Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday confirmed the qualification route for the historic sport’s return to the Olympics after a 128-year absence at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
The men’s and women’s cricket tournaments at LA 2028 will feature six teams each, with Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania all guaranteed.
The apex body shared on Monday that as per the existing Future Tour Program (FTP) structure, the five spots will be decided through a combination of existing ICC events and ICC T20I rankings.
Meanwhile, the sixth and final spots in both the men’s and women’s categories will be determined by the inaugural ICC Olympic Qualifiers to be held in 2027 and feature eight teams.
“The five qualification spots in each event will be determined through a combination of existing ICC events and ICC T20I rankings, as per the existing approved and published FTP structure,” the ICC said in a statement.
“The sixth and final places for both men and women will be determined by the new ICC Olympic qualifiers in 2027.”
The ICC further shared that for the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, Australia, England, India and South Africa have qualified for their respective cricket tournaments in the Games based on the highest qualifying finishers from Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
As per the recently released qualification pathway, the United States of America (USA) is eligible to qualify as the host nation for both the men’s and women’s teams, but subject to appearing in the top 15 of the relevant ICC T20I rankings at any time between 30 June 2026 and 231 December 2026.
However, if the USA men’s and women’s teams fail to meet the criteria, fifth place in both events will be awarded to the highest-ranked ineligible country, with cut-off dates set at March 1 2027 and December 31 2026, respectively.
The apex cricket body shared that the West Indies were not eligible to participate in the Olympic Games or receive a quota place as the West Indies were not recognized as a National Olympic Committee (NOC) by the IOC as they were a joint ICC member representing several Caribbean countries.
However, if the eight top-ranked teams that do not qualify by December 31, 2026 have their men’s and women’s teams, an exclusive Caribbean qualifier event will be held to determine which NOC region will represent the ICC qualifiers.