Knight Riders home base to host Olympic cricket: ICC CEO

Los Angeles: ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta on Thursday termed the "ground breaking" of the cricket venue for the 2028 Olympics as the fulfilment of a long awaited "promise", noting that the facility, which also serves as the home ground of the Los Angeles Knight Riders, will bring the sport to the global showpiece.

"This is a moment in history because what we are breaking ground on today is not simply a cricket field. We are breaking ground on a promise. A promise that took 128 years to keep," Gupta said.

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Gupta was speaking at the ground breaking ceremony of the venue for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Gupta said cricket's return to the Olympics after more than a century marked recognition of the sport's global appeal, following the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approving its inclusion in the Los Angeles Games.

"That's how long the world's second most popular sport, a game played and passionately followed by more than 2.5 billion people, has been missing from the Olympic stage.

"When the International Olympic Committee formally approved cricket's inclusion in the Los Angeles 2028 Games, it wasn't just a scheduling announcement. It was a recognition that the Olympics should reflect the sports that billions of people love," he said.

"The International Cricket Council humbly accepted that recognition with our full commitment." Referring to the venue at Pomona, Gupta said its community driven legacy made it an ideal choice for cricket's Olympic return.

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"I can't imagine a better venue than Pomona for the coming together of this promise. The best things in sport happen when ambition meets community, and Pomona is both.

"This site has served the people of Los Angeles County as the home of the LA County Fair, as a gathering place for trade, culture, and celebration," he said.

"There is something fitting, almost poetic, about the fact that a venue built on the idea of community coming together will now host a sport that, at its very core, is all about community."

Gupta acknowledged the role of the Knight Riders group in developing the venue, highlighting its intent to grow cricket in the United States.

"I want to acknowledge the role the Los Angeles Knight Riders are playing in making this promise possible. The Knight Riders Group, owners of cricket franchises across India, Caribbean, the UAE, and the United States, has made a bold declaration by establishing their official home ground here, with a clear view to positioning this region as a future hub for cricket in America," he said.

"They want to build this as the nursery for the sport's future in this country and to bring together the massive cricket community from across the nation."

Gupta said the Olympic platform would provide cricket unprecedented global exposure, with billions expected to follow the Games.

"When the LA28 Games take place in July 2028, the eyes of four billion Olympic viewers will be on Los Angeles. Many of those eyes will fall on Fairplex and on cricket for the first time.

"That is not just a sporting moment, it is a cultural one, the moment cricket introduces itself properly to many parts of the world, including America," he said.

Emphasising the larger significance of sport, Gupta said the Olympics represent more than commercial success.

"The Olympics remind us why sport matters, not the commerce of it, not the broadcast numbers, not the franchise valuations. At its highest expression, sport is an exchange between nations, cultures, and communities. Cricket has been having that exchange for over a century and a half," he said.

"Two years from now, at this very ground, it will finally have it on the world's biggest sporting stage. Today, we are building the ground.

"In 2028, we will be building the future. And as the ICC, we are wholeheartedly committed to this future," Gupta concluded.