New Delhi: Two Men’s T20 World Cup champions West Indies could miss out on cricket’s return to the Olympics in 2028 after the qualifiers were revealed on Monday (June 29). Six teams each will play in the men’s and women’s T20 tournaments at the Los Angeles Summer Olympics.Apart from the top four National Olympic Committees (NOC) in the world and the one place held by the USA, other places will be selected based on the Final Olympic Global Qualification Tournament (FOCGQT).Based on the standings as of December 31, 2026, the qualifying tournament will be played by “the next eight highest ranked teams that have not yet qualified.”If the West Indies, currently ranked seventh in the ICC T20I rankings, the ICC will organize the West Indies Nations Regional Tournament.It will be played to decide which NOC will compete in the FOCGQT. Unlike the ICC, which recognizes the gathering of Caribbean islands such as the West Indies, this is not the case with the IOC (International Olympic Committee).Therefore, the IOC recognizes Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the US Virgin Islands, as separate NOCs. The ICC, however, does not.The NOC that wins the FOGQT will secure the final Olympic berth.Cricket returns to the Olympics after 126 years. The last time cricket was played at the Olympics was in Paris in 1900.
