President Joe Biden is set to make an announcement Wednesday about his support for a new team – and flag – competing in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, the White House said.
Lacrosse will be included as an Olympic game in 2028 and, when Biden attends the White House Tribal Nations Summit on Wednesday, he “will announce his support for the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (previously known as the Iroquois Confederacy) to compete under their own flag in lacrosse internationally at the 2028 Olympics,” a White House official said.
Biden, the official added, “will recognize that due to the Confederacy’s unique role in inventing the sport of lacrosse, their sustained global leadership within the sport since its invention and their Nation-to-Nation request for support, they should be granted a narrowly scoped exception to field their own team.”
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy spans parts of the Northeastern United States and Canada.
“It is made up of six Nations – the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, and Tuscarora Nation – and predates European settlement,” the official said.
The decision began to come together this July, when Haudenosaunee leaders met with White House officials from the National Security Council, Domestic Policy Council and Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
“Upon its creation over two thousand years ago, lacrosse brought Nations together. It became a force for peace, friendship, and healing, and remains both a revered part of their culture and a cherished pastime for many Americans. The Haudenosaunee Nationals Lacrosse Organization, established in 1983, has competed internationally under their Haudenosaunee flag since 1990, and both men’s and women’s teams have consistently been among the best in the world,” the official said.
The International Olympic Committee will have to approve…
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