ICC set to go ahead with Continental Qualification System for upcoming LA Olympics

‌Top cricketing nations like New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan will miss the Los Angeles Olympics 2028, with the International Cricket Council set to finalise the Continental Qualification System to decide on the final six teams. As per reports on ESPNcricinfo, the ICC discussed the proposal in its recent Annual General Meeting with majority approval from the members.

Cricket returns to the Olympic movement after a gap of 128 years, with the matches set to take place between July 14 and 29 in 2028, with six teams from the men’s and women’s game to fight it out for the gold medal. ICC initially thought of having a pre-determined cut-off date to decide the top six sides.

But the cricket body had to revert after some of the full-member nations believed that it prevented wider participation of countries from across the globe. The latest system will have one country from each continent taking part in the marquee event. The respective countries will be decided based on the rankings as per a pre-determined date.

As per the current rankings in Asia, India are on top, with Australia making its way from Oceania, England from Europe, and South Africa from Africa. The ICC is yet to decide on which team represents the Americas, with hosts USA and one of the islands from the Caribbean in the fray.

"The preference from the IOC is to work to the 'five ring' principle, which is teams from each of the continents represent their continent," ECB Chairman Richard Thompson told BBC’s Test Match Special.

"The hope is, when we get to Brisbane, we might be up to eight or ten teams, and in 2036, there's a three-way shoot-out between Qatar, Saudi and India, and clearly the real hope is that India get in it 2036, in which case, cricket will be front and centre. Who knows? It could be ten or 12 teams by that stage.

"At this stage, we are there by the invitation of the IOC and on that basis, you abide by their rules, and that is to play the geography of your game as opposed to necessarily the top six playing nations."