Second day of IOC Executive Board meeting underway in Mumbai

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Earlier, Kit McConnell, Sports Director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Thursday that five sporting disciplines, including cricket, have been proposed to be included at the Los Angeles Olympics 2028 and the Executive Board will take up the matter on Friday.

IOC President Thomas Bach on Thursday chaired the Executive Board meeting at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai.

"Los Angeles Committee proposed five games which can be the part of Los Angeles Olympics - which include Cricket. EB (Executive Board) will take up the matter in tomorrow's meeting," said Kit McConnell, Sports Director, International Olympic Committee at a press briefing in Mumbai.

The organisers of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics on Monday recommended the inclusion of cricket at the Olympics after 128 years of wait. Cricket made its Olympic debut in the 1900 Paris Games.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) released an official statement on October 9 to announce its proposal to include cricket in the Summer Olympics.

"After a two-year process, in which ICC worked closely with LA28, the list of sports to be added in LA included cricket, which will now be put forward for approval to the International Olympic Committee (IOC)," the statement added.

ICC Chairman Greg Barclay was quoted by the ICC as saying, "We are delighted that LA28 have recommended cricket for inclusion in the Olympics. Whilst this is not the final decision, it is a very significant landmark towards seeing cricket at the Olympics for the first time in more than a century. I'd like to thank LA28 for their support during the new sport evaluation process over the last two years and we look forward to the final decision being taken at the IOC Session, in India, during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup next week."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session on Friday.

The IOC session serves as a key meeting of the members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Important decisions regarding the future of the Olympic games are made at the IOC Sessions. India is hosting the IOC session for the second time and after a gap of about 40 years. The IOC's 86th session was held in New Delhi in 1983, read a press release from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

The session is being attended by the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach and other members of the IOC, along with prominent Indian sports personalities and representatives from various sports federations, including the Indian Olympic Association.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Executive Board of the IOC decided to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) with immediate effect. The decision was taken after the ROC decided to include the regional sports organisation of Ukraine (Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia) as its member, as per the IOC.

The ROC will no longer be entitled to operate as a National Olympic Committee. The IOC reserves the right to decide on the participation of individual neutral athletes with Russian passports at the Paris Olympics 2022.

Additionally, the IOC Executive Board confirmed that in the lead-up to Paris2024, 464 athletes will compete in the Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai and Budapest, an important step in determining which athletes qualify in BMX freestyle, breaking, skateboarding and sport climbing, blending sport, art, music, and culture.

The IOC Executive Board also accepted three applications for change of nationality; Maxine Esteban, Fencing-Philippines to Ivory Coast; Saeid Mollaei, Judo-Mongolia to Azerbaijan; Campbell Wright, Biathlon-New Zealand to USA, as per the IOC. (ANI)