Flag football among 5 sports added to 2028 Olympics; Breakdance is out
Flag football is coming to the Olympics.
On Monday, the International Olympic Committee added five sports to the 2028 Los Angeles Games with flag football, cricket, baseball-softball, lacrosse and squash.
All five were voted in as a single package with two “no” votes from about 90 IOC members in the room.
Breakdance, however, will not return after making its Olympic debut in Paris next year.
Flag football and baseball-softball could put NFL and MLB players on the Olympic stage in five years’ time.
“The NFL is committed to working together to strengthen flag football’s place in the Olympic movement long term,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.
According to ESPN, two members from Africa, Tidjane Thiam of Ivory Coast and William Blick of Uganda, expressed concern about how the fact that the sports added Monday are not played much on the continent.
They were told by L.A. sports director Niccolò Campriani that flag football is “the future and the tip of the spear for American football’s international growth.”
In a separate vote, IOC members confirmed that weightlifting and the pentathlon will retain their Olympics places. Weightlifting had faced scrutiny because of doping issues.
Boxing has been assured of being on the program in Los Angeles, but the sport is currently without a governing body recognized by the IOC.