Cricket will be included in the 2024 Olympics if Rome wins its bid to host the games, the president of the Italian board has said.Rome is one of the cities bidding to host the Olympics in 2024 - alongside Paris, Los Angeles and Budapest - and, under new regulations, will have the opportunity to add five sports to the games as they see fit. France Cricket is attempting to win a similar commitment with the Paris organising committee.If Rome hosts the Olympics, cricket will be included, Simone Gambino, president of the Federazione Cricket Italiana (FCI) told ESPNcricinfo. We have had a firm commitment from the organising committee.It is likely that, if Rome does host the games, cricket would be held in Bologna. The city hosted World Cricket League Division Four matches in 2010 and though the availability of turf pitches may be an issue, there would be time to overcome that should the bid be successful.Which nations would be involved remains open to debate. There would probably be a maximum of 16 teams invited to take part, though there is a possibility of just 12, with Olympic regulations suggesting they will be spread across the globe.So, if only 12 teams were included, three might come from Europe, three from Asia, two from Africa, two or three from America and the Caribbean and two or three from the South Pacific area. It could well be that some well-known cricket nations - notably England, who are part of the UK in Olympic terms - miss out.Roma 2024 would welcome new sports, such as cricket, in the Olympic program also in consideration of the increasing number of people that are actively playing it in Italy, a spokesman for the Rome 2024 organising committee told ESPNcricinfo. We are however fully aware that such a decision belongs to the International Olympic Committee and therefore our planning is exclusively based on the indications received from the IOC in Lausanne.The news emerged as the ICC continued its annual conference in Edinburgh. Having started the week with high hopes of winning agreement on a number of fairly radical proposals - the introduction of promotion and relegation in Test and ODI cricket, the return of a World T20 every two years and a change in the manner in which revenues are pooled and distributed among other things - it now appears it will take longer than anticipated for all the strands to come together.As a result the press conference planned for Saturday, when the ICC hoped to unveil the agreements, was cancelled and an extra meeting has been arranged for late August in Dubai. The next ICC board meeting takes place in South Africa in October.While tangible progress has been limited, the mood of the conference has been notably more optimistic than in previous years. After years of being bullied (in the words of one Associate delegate) by a couple of dominant Full Member nations, the talk now is of family and consensus. Plans have not been derailed as much as given a more realistic timeframe for completion.One intriguing suggestion from the meeting concerns qualification for future World Cups. While Associate members will likely be disappointed by the proposal that the tournament remains a 10-team event, some discussion has taken place around the possibility of only the top six teams in the ICC rankings qualifying automatically with the other four gaining qualification through a play-off tournament. Such criteria, even if accepted, is unlikely to be introduced until the 2023 tournament.Other matters dealt with the unanimous election of Saudi Arabia as the 39th Associate member, and the unanimous ratification of the suspensions of the USA Cricket Association (USACA) and the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). They were suspended in June 2015 and April 2016, respectively. An ICC delegation, including board members, will visit both suspended nations shortly.Both Nepal and the US are important Members of the ICC as they have tremendous talent and potential, ICC chairman Shashank Monohar said. The ICC, as part of its game and market development strategy, will continue to provide the countries with as much support as possible so that they can put in place good governance and cricket structures. Wholesale Diamondbacks Jerseys . LOUIS -- St. Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys Authentic . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months. http://www.cheapdiamondbacksjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-randy-johnson-jersey . Louis Blues absence from top spot in the TSN. Cheap Curt Schilling Jersey . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. NATIONAL ANTHEM PROTESTSWASHINGTON -- Tommie Smith and John Carlos voiced their support for Colin Kaepernick and other athletes staging national anthem protests, 48 years after they raised their gloved fists on the medals stand in a symbolic protest at the Olympics.The American sprinters who were sent home from the 1968 Mexico City Olympics for what they called a human rights salute say the San Francisco 49ers quarterback and others are right to use their platform to raise awareness about racial inequality and police brutality.Speaking Wednesday at the Team USA Awards, the first U.S. Olympic Committee event theyve been invited to since their protest, Smith says hes backing Kaepernick because his protest is proactive and Carlos says theres no better platform than sports to stand up for something, even if it brings criticism.LINCOLN, Neb. -- Gov. Pete Ricketts has agreed to meet next week with one of the Nebraska football players he criticized for kneeling during the national anthem at the Cornhuskers most recent game.Michael Rose-Ivey and two teammates each took a knee before last Saturdays game at Northwestern as a protest against police brutality and racial injustice.Ricketts spokesman Taylor Gage said a day for the meeting had not been set but that it would be held next week, at Rose-Iveys request, so it doesnt interfere with football game preparation. The Cornhuskers dont have a game on Oct. 8.After Ricketts called the act disgraceful and disrespectful on his radio show Monday, Rose-Ivey tweeted at Ricketts that he would like to discuss the issue with him.Ricketts on Tuesday night responded on Twitter: Thanks for reaching out. Direct message me your information, and we will get something set up right away!Also Tuesday, Rose-Ivey and teammates Mohamed Barry and DaiShon Neal were criticized by two university regents, but received support from the university president Hank Bounds.PRO FOOTBALLPHILADELPHIA -- A second petition has been filed asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the $1 billion settlement of NFL concussion lawsuits because of how it treats current brain injuries versus future ones.The former players who filed the petition complain that chronic traumatic encephalopathy diagnosed before the April 2015 cutoff can bring $4 million while future CTE diagnoses arent compensated. They say that violates Supreme Court rulings that insist each subgroup in a class action settlement be treated fairly.The petition, filed Monday, echoes earlier complaints that the lead players lawyers signed a quick deal with the NFL in 2013 favoring their clients over thousands of others.Lawyers on the Plaintiffs Steering Committee, who negotiated the deal, reject those arrguments and say the appeals are holding up payments that ailing retirees need.dddddddddddd The NFL declined to comment.BASEBALLMIAMI -- Somber Marlins players and personnel escorted a hearse carrying the body of star pitcher Jose Fernandez from the teams ballpark, as the farewell for their beloved teammate marched on.As players and fans honored Fernandezs memory, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio sought a safety probe into the rock jetty where a boat crash claimed the lives of the baseball star and two friends.Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, manager Don Mattingly, hitting coach Barry Bonds and the players including Marcell Ozuna and Giancarlo Stanton wore white T-shirts emblazoned with Fernandezs image and the letters RIP as they slowly walked the hearse away from Marlins Park in Miamis Little Havana neighborhood. Many in the crowd of about 1,000 chanted Jose! Jose! and some waved Cuban flags in honor of the popular Cuban-American player.CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs announced a five-year contract extension with president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, rewarding him for an overhaul that has the long-suffering franchise eyeing its first championship since 1908.The extension comes with the Cubs wrapping up one of the greatest seasons in franchise history and their fans believing that this just might be the team to end the 108-year World Series title drought.They reached 100 wins for the first time since 1935 and were a major league-leading 101-56 heading into Wednesdays game at Pittsburgh. Chicago clinched the best record in the majors with more than a week left in the regular season.Terms were not disclosed. Chairman Tom Ricketts said the contract ensures the baseball operations team assembled by Epstein will continue its remarkable tenure of building a consistent championship contender.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Pete Rose has appealed directly to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in an effort to restore his eligibility to be elected.In a seven-page letter to the Halls president, Roses longtime attorney Raymond Genco makes the case that the career hits leaders ban from baseball for gambling in 1989 was not intended to make him ineligible for the Hall of Fame.The Hall of Fame changed its bylaws two years after Roses banishment to make banned players ineligible for the Hall. Rose argues that it wasnt then-Commissioner Bart Giamattis intention to keep him out of the Hall when the two reached a settlement that banned him from baseball.Genco said new commissioner Rob Manfred denying Roses reinstatement last December opened the door for the new argument. ' ' '