Courtesy: Asian Games
Cricket is reportedly set to be part of the Asian Games 2026 in Japan next year, which will be the 20th edition of the Asiad, scheduled to be held from September 19 to October 4. The formal confirmation about the new development will happen in the meetings to be held between Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the organising committee (AINAGOC) of the Aichi-Nagoya Games.
As per the report published in Cricbuzz, an official of the Japan Cricket Association (JCA) spoke to them about the matter, and remarked, “The OCA Board will still need to approve it. Although we think that is just a formality. But until they do it is not 100 percent.” Meanwhile, the statement of OCA on the matter read, “The meeting will run from Wednesday, April 30 to Friday, May 2, with the 3rd OCA Coordination Committee Meeting taking place over two days on May 1-2.”
Indian cricket team is the defending gold medalist in the men’s and women’s competition at the Asian Games
The venue for cricket competition in the Asian Games 2026 is quite an important aspect of this new development especially when Japan is not known to be a cricket country, and they don’t have the high-quality facility matching the standards of some of the well-known nations playing the game. In his regard, an JCA official stated that the venue will be decided in the aforementioned meetings.
Meanwhile, the OCA statement on the situation read, “The venue for cricket will be in Aichi prefecture but the exact location has not been decided. Interest will be high, not only because of cricket's popularity in South Asia in particular but also because the T20 (20 overs per side) format will be included in the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028. This will be cricket's first appearance in the Olympics since 1900 in Paris, where Great Britain beat France by 158 runs in the final of the two-team tournament.”
It is important to note that the Indian cricket team is the defending gold medalist in the men’s and women’s competition at the Asian Games, which were won in Hangzhou, China, in 2022. Apart from cricket, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) will also be included in the Asian Games 2026 in Japan, and as stated earlier, the official confirmation about their inclusion will happen at the turn of the month.
