NEW DELHI: Hosts the United States are on course to feature in the men’s Twenty20 cricket tournament at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, while the American women’s team is set to miss the home Games under the qualification pathway approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The IOC executive board approved the qualification system on Monday, with six teams to compete in both the men’s and women’s tournaments when cricket returns to the Olympics for the first time since 1900.
In the men’s competition, reigning world champions India, Britain, South Africa and one team from Oceania will qualify through ICC rankings, alongside hosts the United States, provided they remain inside the top 15 of the ICC men’s T20 rankings by the Dec. 31, 2026 cut-off date.
Australia and New Zealand are expected to compete for Oceania’s automatic berth.
The sixth and final place will be decided through a global qualifying tournament featuring the next eight highest-ranked teams that have not already qualified.
Because the West Indies compete as a combined ICC member rather than a single National Olympic Committee (NOC), the IOC said a regional qualifying event would determine which Caribbean nation advances if the West Indies earn a place in the global qualifier.
“If the West Indies is ranked among the eight highest-ranked teams not yet qualified, the ICC shall organise a West Indies Nations Regional Tournament to determine which NOC will represent the region at the final global Olympic qualification tournament,” the IOC said in a statement.
England’s ICC ranking will be used to determine qualification for Britain.
The women’s tournament will also feature six teams.
Australia, Britain, South Africa and India have already secured qualification as the highest-performing continental teams at the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup.
The United States are set to miss out because neither they nor any other team from the Americas are currently ranked among the ICC’s top 15 women’s T20 sides.
Following next year’s Champions Trophy, the unused host nation quota will instead be allocated to the highest-ranked women’s T20 team outside the four already qualified.
As in the men’s competition, the Caribbean regional winner will progress to an eight-team global qualifier, with the tournament winner claiming the sixth and final Olympic berth.
