New Delhi: Two-time men’s T20 World Cup winners West Indies could miss out on cricket’s return to the 2028 Olympics after the qualification process was announced on Monday (June 29). Six teams each will play in the men’s and women’s T20 competition at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.In addition to the four top-ranked National Olympic Committees (NOCs) at the continental level and one quota place for the host USA, another place will be decided by the Virtual Final Olympic Global Qualifying Tournament (FOCGQT).Based on the rankings on December 31, 2026, a qualifying tournament will be held featuring “the next eight highest-ranked eligible teams that have not yet qualified.”If the West Indies, who are currently 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 a collection of Caribbean islands as the West Indies, this is not the case with the IOC (International Olympic Committee).Thus, 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 quota.Cricket is returning to the Olympics after a gap of 126 years. The last time cricket was played at the Olympics was in Paris in 1900.
