New Delhi, Feb 5 (IANS) FIFA president Gianni Infantino has met the International Cricket Council (ICC) chief Jay Shah in Milan. The meeting marks the crossover between two of the most important people in the world’s most popular sports.

Infantino shared a glimpse of the meeting with Shah through a post on Instagram. He lauded Shah’s work in the growth of cricket and also wished him luck as cricket is getting back to the Olympics.

“It was my pleasure to meet ICC Chairman Jay Shah today in Milan. The outstanding work he has done to grow the beautiful game of cricket is exemplary. I wish him and everyone the very best as cricket gets reintroduced to the Summer Olympic Games in two years’ time,” he wrote in a post.

Infantino also expressed his desire to work with Shah to unite the world with the help of sports. “I also look forward to working together and collaborating as we unite the world through sports,” he added.

Cricket is set to return to the Olympics in the 2028 Summer Games, to be held in Los Angeles, 128 years after its debut in Paris 1900, when Great Britain claimed gold in a one-off match against France.

At LA 2028, cricket will return in a much more modern avatar with separate T20 format tournaments for men and women – each with its own set of medals – gold, silver and bronze. The competitions for the men’s and women’s categories will run from 12 July to 29 July. The medal matches will be held on 20 July (women’s) and 29 July (men’s), respectively.

Six teams will be competing in each of the men’s and women’s tournaments, comprising 28 matches in all. A total of 90 athlete quotas have been allocated for each gender, allowing every team to name a 15-member squad.

All cricket matches at the LA 2028 Olympics will be held in a temporary, purpose-built venue at the Fairgrounds in Pomona – a city located about 50 kilometres from Los Angeles.

However, the qualification scenario for the LA28 Olympics is yet to be decided. It is expected that the topic will likely be discussed during the ICC’s annual conference in Singapore, which will start on July 17.

–IANS

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