BANGKOK: The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) honorary VP Randhir Singh announced on Sunday at its General Assembly meeting in the Thai capital city that cricket will be a part of the 2022 edition of the Asian Games competition in China, Press Trust of India reports.
For the 2018 competition in Indonesia, the OCA had opted out of bringing cricket to the fore due to the BCCI’s refusal to send the Indian team to participate in the 2010 and 2014 events respectively despite the sport played in the popular T20 format.
The BCCI’s stance on this development will be interesting to see, as it has also been accused by many for blocking cricket’s participation in the Olympic Games as well.
OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah had slammed the board for 2014 for India’s non-participation, for which he was quoted as saying by some sections of the media: “I’m sorry that India, for the second Games, did not send a team. I respect their decision but I believe the people in charge are not interested in promotion of the game but only in making it a business, in making money out of it. They want to control the market and control the game.”
The OCA had also declared in its Bangkok meeting that Oceania countries such as Australia will be welcomed for the first time in 2022 to participate in the event.
