The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics could have some new sports if they’re approved in the coming days. The International Olympic Committee will vote on the proposal at their upcoming meetings in Mumbai, India later this week. The sports under consideration include flag football, cricket, lacrosse, squash, baseball and softball.
Baseball and softball have been Olympic events in the past, but have come off of the Olympic program on a handful of occasions.
Los Angeles chairman Casey Wasserman stated these new sports are “relevant, innovative and community-based, played in backyards, schoolyards, community centers, stadiums and parks across the U.S. and the globe.”
Football certainly is one of the most popular sports in the world, especially in the United States. Considering the Summer Games will be played on American soil, it would make sense for flag football to make its Olympic debut.
“Things have been going at a whipping pace for football,” Bettina Cornwell, a sports business expert at the University of Oregon, told the Associated Press. “It’s a very smart idea to introduce a football-type game on a larger scale with more limelight.”
The proposed flag football event would consist of a five-on-five game that would be played on a 50-yard field. There wouldn’t be any offensive or defensive linemen on the field. In the 2022 World Games, the United States men’s team won the gold medal, while the women lost to Mexico in the final.
In the new proposal for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, breakdancing is scheduled to be absent. The event is scheduled to debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics next summer. Motorsports, kickboxing and karate also aren’t going to make the cut in the proposal.
Source: CBS Sports
