CWI Seeks Fair Olympic Pathway For Caribbean Nations As Cricket Returns to LA 2028

As cricket gears up for a historic return to the Olympic Games at Los Angeles 2028, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has raised a vital and pressing concern — how does a region represented collectively under one cricketing body find its place in an Olympic framework that recognises only sovereign nations?

The Caribbean’s unique situation in international cricket — where multiple independent nations compete together under the “West Indies” banner — has placed CWI in a complex position.

While West Indies men’s and women’s teams are ranked inside the top six of ICC’s T20I rankings (men fifth, women sixth), the Olympic Charter stipulates that only sovereign nations can participate in the Games.

This could mean that, technically, despite having teams good enough to qualify on merit, no West Indies team may get the opportunity to participate unless an acceptable pathway is devised.

In a public appeal to the International Cricket Council (ICC), CWI president Kishore Shallow urged the governing body and Olympic organisers to ensure a “fair and transparent pathway” for at least one sovereign Caribbean nation to represent the region.

“The Caribbean has always punched above its weight at the Olympics, inspiring the world with our athletic brilliance,” said Shallow.

“Cricket’s return to the Games in 2028 must not exclude our young cricketers from the same dream that has inspired our athletes. The Olympic Charter emphasizes fairness, transparency, and universality. We are simply asking that these principles be upheld – not just in spirit, but in structure. West Indies cricket must have a pathway, and fully deserves an opportunity to compete.”

Olympic Qualification: Who Gets In?

So far, the ICC has not released an official qualification format for the LA28 Olympics. However, it had earlier proposed that six teams in both the men’s and women’s T20 formats should qualify based on their T20I rankings at a pre-decided cut-off date. There is also an added wrinkle — the host nation, USA, may be granted automatic qualification, which would reduce the number of available slots to five.

Should this happen, and if rankings remain relatively unchanged, both West Indies men and women would qualify on paper — but without a sovereign nation to pin the berth on, a key decision awaits.

The Pathways Proposed by CWI

To address this, CWI has laid out two potential solutions:

Internal Qualification Tournament: If West Indies teams qualify, an internal tournament among Olympic-affiliated sovereign member countries (like Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, etc.) could be held to decide who represents the Caribbean. This would mirror what happened at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where Barbados represented the West Indies because they were champions of the regional Twenty20 Blaze.

Global Qualifying Pathway with Regional Inclusion: The ICC could create a broader qualifying tournament, which includes Caribbean nations affiliated with CWI alongside associate members from the ICC's five Development Regions. This would mean each nation — including individual Caribbean countries — competes as a separate entity for the Olympic slots.

A Plea for Inclusion, Not Exclusion

The stakes are as emotional as they are structural. Cricket, last played at the Olympics in 1900, is set to captivate a new generation with its return. For West Indies cricket, which has historically inspired and entertained with flair, power, and charisma, the thought of being excluded from an Olympic dream feels unjust.

CWI chief executive Chris Dehring echoed the emotional gravity of the issue:

“Our nations have proudly flown their individual flags atop Olympic podiums as perennial gold medallists. Now, with cricket’s inclusion, we must ensure that our cricketers are not shut out of history. We are ready to collaborate. We are ready to compete. But above all, we are asking for fairness.”