IANS

Dubai, Feb 12: The International Cricket Council (ICC) Friday said it is extremely proud of the recognition given to it by the International Olympic Council (IOC).

The IOC in Vancouver Thursday approved its executive board's decision to convert its �provisional' recognition to �full recognition'.

Applauding the move, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: "The ICC is extremely proud of the recognition given to our great sport by the IOC, which we always considered to be our first step in becoming a part of the Olympic family."

"At this stage, no consideration or decision has been made regarding participation or applying for approval to participate in the Olympic Games."

With the recognition, cricket's inclusion in the Olympics could now become a reality. Besides cricket, the federations of sport climbing and power boating were also recognised.

"They are recognised federations by us, which now means that they can take part in IOC events," IOC spokesman Mark Adams told reporters in Vancouver.

Adams added that it could be seen as a first step towards becoming an Olympic sports.

The three sports can now bid for the 2020 Olympics.

Cricket was given the provisional status of "recognition" as an Olympic sport in 2007, for a term of two years, as a sports not in the Olympic programme but which conform to criteria such as universality.

Cricket's Twenty20 format is set to feature at this year's Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, and has been in the Commonwealth Games as recently as 1998.