Mumbai: Mukesh Ambani, wife Nita meet IOC president ahead of cricket’s likely inclusion in 2028 Olympics

Reliance Industries Ltd Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita Ambani on Wednesday hosted International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach at their residence ahead of the 141st IOC Session to be held between October 15-17 at state-of-the-art Jio World Convention Centre (JWC) in Mumbai. India will be hosting the 141st session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after a gap of 40 years. It last hosted the session in 1983. At the session, it’s being widely speculated that cricket’s inclusion in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles will be announed.

Nita Ambani, founder and chairperson of Reliance Foundation, played a major role in helping India win the hosting rights for the IOC Session in 2023. The proposal for Mumbai to host the 2023 IOC Session was presented in the 139th IOC Session in 2023 by a delegation, which was led by Nita Ambani, former Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Dr Narinder Batra, Union Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur, and Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra.

Earlier this month, the IOC, the Olympic Museum and the Reliance Foundation also signed an agreement to promote Olympic values through sports among children, Firstpost reported.

The IOC and Reliance Foundation plan to focus on three main areas through the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP). Through the programme, IOC and Reliance Foundation want to hold grade-specific activities in selected schools to promote Olympism and Olympic values and instill positive behavioural changes.

They will also host virtual and in-person sessions between athletes and students to promote physical activity and discuss Olympic values. Lastly, the collaboration wants to raise awareness about Olympic values through interactive games, quizzes and workshops at sporting and educational events.

“Reliance Foundation is delighted to partner with the IOC for OVEP and we are really looking forward to this partnership. OVEP brings both sports and education together. With this partnership, we can hope to positively impact the 250 million school-going children of India, reaching out to the remotest villages and regions of India,” said Nita Ambani, Founder Chairperson of Reliance Foundation.

India hosting IOC Session

India’s hosting of the IOC Session aims to open a huge range of opportunities for both global federations and state entities to organise sporting events, invest in building world-class training infrastructure and nurture sports talent in India. It will also boost the domestic broadcast and digital market.

On Monday, UK’s Guardian reported that the current Olympic broadcast rights in India are worth just Rs 160 crore ($19 million) for Paris 2024. This value can go up to Rs 1,550 crore after cricket will be included in the Olympics 2028.

Earlier this week, LA28 in a statement said that cricket is set to return to the Summer Olympics for the LA Games in 2028, 128 years after the sport made its only appearance. Besides cricket, baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse and squash have also been recommended for “potential inclusion” at the LA Olympics.

The statement also confirmed that its recommendation would be “reviewed” and ratified later this week by the IOC at its executive board meeting in Mumbai.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) also released its official statement to announce the inclusion of cricket. ICC said: “After a two-year process, in which ICC worked closely with LA28, the list of sports to be added in LA included cricket, which will now be put forward for approval to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).”

A women’s and men’s cricket tournament inclusion in the Los Angeles Summer Olympics can tap into the lucrative Asian subcontinent commercial market with a focus on India.

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