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'Cricket, as such, is fascinating; you want to know more'
IOC president Thomas Bach's long list of aspects that work for cricket as an Olympic sport portrayed the mood about its inclusion.
Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), wore a smile while candidly admitting that he doesn’t understand all the rules of cricket. Much like those countries that find the sport “strange”, as the German termed it.
“For me, the conclusion is I have to learn more. And I hope the other ones who are voting are taking the same conclusion, taking it as an opportunity to learn more. Because the sport, as such, is fascinating; you want to know more," Bach said in a chat with select media here on Tuesday ahead of the IOC Session in Mumbai.
That perhaps sums up cricket’s probability of passing the final checkpost for an entry into the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. With the Los Angeles organising committee on Monday proposing cricket as one of the five sports to be added for the 2028 Games, it now only needs an official go-ahead at this IOC Session. Bach said the proposal will be brought forward to this week’s executive board, which will make the recommendation to the IOC Session, where it will go under a vote.
And while he said he had to be “careful in choosing my words”, Bach’s long list of aspects that work for cricket as an Olympic sport portrayed the mood about its inclusion.
“What speaks in favour of the sport is that it has been gaining more and more international representation. With the T20 format, there is a format available that can be played in an Olympic Games and which is of interest for more and more countries," Bach said. “We see that this interest is not only limited to NOCs (National Olympic Committee) or countries where it is already played, but the US, with a growing Indian community, you have a huge potential.”
Bach said in his first dialogue with the International Cricket Council (ICC) in the first year of his term back in 2013, two points came up for discussion with regard to cricket and Olympics: the format and the “universal appeal”, he said. T20 cricket took care of the former, while he believes an Olympic tag could only help boost “good progress” on the latter in countries where government supports sports in the Olympic program.
“With cricket, you're in Americas, you're in Asia, you're in Europe, you're in Africa, you're in Oceania. So, you have a certain representation in all five continents. And this is not necessarily true for every sport that we're taking on the program. So, this is a good space then to develop it further within the continents. If we're talking about 2028, there is time to grow,” Bach said.
India’s possible Olympics bid
With voices growing within the country about India's possible interest in bidding for the 2036 Olympics, Bach said the IOC has "noted with great interest that there are apparently serious considerations within India”. “We have to wait now (to see) how this will turn into a project and will be brought forward to us. Only then can we form an opinion,” he added.
Pre-requisites for successful candidatures is to be “authentic and sustainable”, Bach said. "That means creating a legacy from the start. Not organising the Olympic Games and then when the flames extinguish, say what are we doing now?”
Also playing a critical role will be governance at the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). IOC had, last year, warned India with a ban if IOA elections weren't held within a specified time frame, which also made it push the IOC Session from May to October. “We must have confidence in the governance of IOA. We have seen now some movements. We hope and we will take the opportunity of our visit here to have more talks and hope that this progress continues. Then, we can have this confidence in IOA," Bach said.
Climate change effect
Bach also acknowledged that climate change is already having an effect on sport in general and Winter sport in particular, where "lack of snow is already leading to a shift in the winter sports: from the sports of snow, which means outdoor sports, to sports competed on ice, which means indoors".
"When it comes to sport itself, I don't know where it ends," Bach said. "There are two ways and at the end they may even be complementary. One is that we have to look into the scheduling of events. Meaning, in the long term, we can say the Olympic Games should happen in August. But if we move, the whole calendar must move...that is a nightmare. But we have to address this."
Bach added that two committees that look into the future hosting of the Games -- Summer and Winter -- are already looking into this effect. "To see whether a change in the sports calendar is sufficient or whether it must be complemented by a stronger shift to indoor sports," he said.
No boxing in Games under IBA
Bach also said the International Boxing Association (IBA) has shown little progress in improving its governance, and while IOC will oversee boxing events at the 2024 Paris Olympics, it cannot do it forever.
"At a certain level we have to pull the plug. And now it’s getting worse when it comes to financial transparency and governance," Bach said of IBA. "We want to have it (boxing). But you have to find a way how and with whom... There will be no boxing with IBA in the Olympic program. It’s done. Full stop. We gave them four years, they have not met conditions set by us."
