IOC boosts women s soccer teams to 16 for LA 2028 Games men s teams down to 12

LAUSANNE, Switzerland - The Los Angeles 2028 Olympics will feature an increase in womens soccer teams from 12 to 16, while the mens competition will be downsized from 16 to a dozen teams, the International Olympic Committee said on Wednesday.

The decision was part of a number of changes to the Olympic event programme with more mixed events across several sports and all team sports with at least the same number of women’s and men’s teams.

The IOC said the reason for the sharp increase in womens soccer teams was the rapidly growing popularity of womens team sports, especially in the United States, and that change in the competition format reflected that rapid growth.

We wanted to do something to reflect that growth and equally with the United States being the home of the highest level of popularity of womens football, IOC sports director Kit McConnell told a press conference.

He said the IOC had discussed the issue with both LA Games organisers and world soccers governing body FIFA before going through with the changes.

The total number of players -- mens and womens -- would not change.

The United States, who will also host the 2026 mens and the 2031 womens World Cup, have won five Olympic gold medals in the womens competition.

The mens teams use mostly under-23 players at Olympic Games.

The LA Games will have a total of 351 medal events in all sports, 22 more than at Paris 2024 Olympics.

Several sports, including archery, athletics, golf and gymnastics will be adding new mixed team events, with the total number of athletes unchanged at 10,500.

The five sports proposed by the LA Games organising committee -- baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash -- will have an extra 698 quota places. REUTERS

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