Dubai [UAE], April 16 (ANI): The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday welcomed the announcement that the fairgrounds in Pomona, Southern California, will host cricket at the upcoming 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, as per the ICC official website.

Excitement around cricket's Olympic comeback has been building since it was confirmed that the sport would return to the Games after a 128-year gap.

On April 9, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed the player quotas and number of participating teams for cricket at the 2028 Olympics.

Both the men's and women's T20 competitions will feature six teams each. A 90-player quota will be allocated per gender, allowing each nation to field a squad of up to 15 players.

The full tournament schedule will be finalised closer to the start of the Games.

'We welcome the announcement of the venue for cricket at Los Angeles 2028 as it is a significant step towards the preparation for our sport's return to the Olympics,' ICC Chair Jay Shah said, as quoted by the ICC official website.

'Although cricket is a hugely popular sport, it will be a fantastic opportunity to expand traditional boundaries when it features in the Olympics in the fast-paced, exciting T20 format that should appeal to new audiences. On behalf of the ICC, I want to express my gratitude to LA28 and the International Olympic Committee for their support and look forward to collaborating with them and ICC Members in preparing for LA28 and making cricket a huge success there,' the 36-year-old added.

Cricket's return to the Olympics was confirmed in October 2023, alongside the inclusion of five additional sports for the Los Angeles Games - baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash.

The T20 format has previously featured in multi-sport events, with both men's and women's competitions held at the Asian Games in 2010, 2014 and 2023. The 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham featured a women's T20 tournament. (ANI)