IOC gives ‘provisional status’ to cricket

Dec 12: The IOC gives provisional recognition status to cricket for a two-year period and could give permanent status to the sport in 2009. The earliest cricket could be seen at the Olympics in 2020 since the mandatory period won’t be over by the end of 2008 Beijing Olympics. The status could only be reviewed following the 2012 London Games since the Olympic programme is chalked out seven years ahead of every Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has given ‘provisional status’ to cricket, by bringing it under the category of “recognised sport”, for an initial two-year period on the first day of its executive committee meeting at Lausanne in Switzerland on Tuesday.

This status has been given as a part of a package for sports not in the Olympic programme but in terms of youth promotion and anti-doping policies. Cricket’s addition to Olympics list of recognised sports will be the return of this sport in to the Games after more than a century period, as it was earlier played way back in 1900.

According to IOC communications director Gisele Davies, “Cricket will benefit from this status for two years and could receive it permanently in 2009.”

ICC president Ray Mali also feels that the recognition could help cricket to reach out to unexplored regions.

"Our goal has been to become an international federation that is recognized by the IOC and we are pleased to have achieved this target," Mali said.

"We want to play an active role in the Olympic movement and we will be looking at ways in which we can work with the IOC for the benefit of cricket, sport and society in general," Mali added.

"Cricket last featured in the Olympic Games in 1900. Maybe one day it will be right for cricket to return to the Olympic programme," Mali further said.

The other fully recognised sports include rugby, golf, squash, bridge and tug-of-war. Apart from cricket Japan’s traditional sumo wrestling has also been provisionally included in the list of recognised sports.

Cricket was last played at the Olympics in 1900, staged in Paris, where Great Britain won the tournament by beating a French team made up mainly of staff from the British embassy.