Mumbai, Oct 13 (IANS): The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has accepted the proposal of the Organising Committee of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games to include five additional sports including cricket in the sports programme.

The IOC EB has accepted as a package the proposal by Los Angeles to include squash, baseball/softball, flag football and lacrosse (six-a-side).

The proposal will be put before the IOC Session for final approval.

The IOC President Thomas Bach said that the five sports are perfectly well with the sports culture of the United States and therefore have been accepted by the IOC EB for inclusion.

Bach also said that the inclusion of cricket sits well with the Indian community in the United States and noted that a very successful tournament was organised in Dallas a few months back. He also noted that cricket's, especially the T20 version popularity is growing not only in India but all over the world and is looking forward to having the best cricket players from all over the world participating in the Olympic Games.

"Having cricket in the Olympic Games is a very attractive prospect for Los Angeles and for the Olympic movement," Bach said.

Mor to follow.