Flag football took a key step toward becoming an Olympic sport in 2028, a victory for the NFL and organizers in Los Angeles who want to bring a distinctly American sport to the Summer Games as they return to the United States for the first time in 32 years.<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles organizing committee proposed five sports — including flag football — to the International Olympic Committee, setting it up for a vote at the IOC’s meeting that starts Friday in Mumbai, India.<\/p>\n
Other sports on the list included baseball and softball — which were in the Tokyo Games in 2021 but will not be played next year in Paris — lacrosse, squash and cricket, a sport with a much wider global reach that will go over well in Brisbane, Australia, which is hosting in 2032, and in India, where the vote will take place.<\/p>\n
Unclear is whether other sports will have to trim the number of disciplines to help the IOC adhere to the limit it set of 10,500 athletes at a Summer Olympics. The addition of five team sports will inflate the number of participants.<\/p>\n
Flag football, in which “tackles” are made by pulling a flag off a belt worn by each player, would be a 5-on-5 affair played on a 50-yard field. There aren’t offensive and defensive linemen. At the World Games last year, the U.S. men won the gold medal but the women fell to Mexico in the final.<\/p>\n
While flag football will feel familiar to the home fans, cricket will be a steep learning curve. Hugely popular in India, Australia and Britain, it is virtually unknown in the United States. A version called Twenty20 \u2014 a shorter version of the original game — is proposed for the schedule in Los Angeles. Cricket was played once before at the Olympics — in Paris in 1900.<\/p>\n
_Copyright 2023 by The Associated Press _<\/p>\n