IOC Supports Cricket Olympic Bid
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has welcomed a bid from cricket to become part of future Olympic Games, after claiming that the sport could be a successful addition to the competition – most likely in the Twenty20 format.
Rogge said: ‘The International Cricket Council will decide at the end of June whether they will make an application. The incoming president might be interested. We would welcome an application’.
‘It’s an important, popular sport and very powerful on television. It’s a sport with a great tradition where mostly you have a respect of the ethics. In the Olympics, it will not be Test cricket, of course’.
If the bid is successful, Twenty20 cricket could debut at the 2020 Olympic Games.
The sport has appeared at the Olympics in the past, featuring in the 1900 Paris Games – Britain beat France to take the gold in a competition that featured only two teams.
Rogge described himself as a devoted cricket fan, watching Test matches on television from his office in Lausanne.
Rogge added: ‘I love the game. I have watched Sachin Tendulkar, Kevin Pietersen, Shane Warne, Ian Botham. It’s tactically very interesting, a game of patience, a game of great skills and the only sport where, after five days, you can have a draw!’
