New Delhi, Nov 7 : The International Cricket Council (ICC) said the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles will see both the men's and women's T20 formats set to take place with six teams each. The combined schedule will include 28 matches, marking a historic milestone for the sport's global expansion and its re-entry into the Olympic fold after more than a century.

The IOC approved cricket's inclusion for LA28 last year, and it will mark the sport's second-ever Olympic appearance, 128 years after its debut in Paris 1900, when Great Britain claimed gold in a one-off match against France.

'To accelerate the global growth of cricket, ICC also said the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will have both the men's and women's T20 events, which will feature six teams each, comprising 28 matches in total.'

'The Board reviewed the ICC's ongoing engagement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games (LA28), as cricket deepens its footprint in the global multisport landscape. It commended the efforts being made to include Cricket in regional multi-sport games, which would mean increased participation opportunities for countries,' said the ICC.

Each gender has been allocated 90 athlete quotas, allowing participating nations to field squads of 15 players. T20 competitions for the men's and women's categories at the Olympics will run from July 12 to 29, 2028.

The medal matches will be held on July 20 (women's) and July 29 (men's), respectively. All matches will be staged at the Fairgrounds in Pomona, about 50 km from downtown Los Angeles.

ICC also confirmed that cricket will feature across multiple multisport events through to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics - Asian Games 2026 (Aichi'Nagoya, Japan), African Games 2027 (Cairo, Egypt), and PanAm Games 2027 (Lima, Peru), where cricket will make its debut.

With its commitment to equitable growth, the ICC Board has approved an increase of nearly 10% in distribution for funds to its associate members for the year 2026. 'The uplift in funding will enable these countries to invest further in domestic programmes, high-performance structures, and cricket development across emerging regions,' it said.

The ICC Board also confirmed its approval to issue an Invitation to Tender (ITT) for'Video'Gaming Rights, opening the door for leading global partners to collaborate with the ICC in delivering'world-class, digital'fan experiences, saying that this marks a major step forward in expanding the game's digital and entertainment footprint.

The global governing body has further'agreed to explore new commercial and innovation opportunities through a data consolidation project as part of the ICC's broader'strategy to unlock new commercial streams.

'The project'will focus on leveraging data clusters to drive AI-powered fan engagement and enhanced analytics, as well as deepen consumer understanding across the cricket ecosystem. The initiative will seek to support ICC's Members with new commercial opportunities,' concluded the ICC.

/IANS