With just over five years to go until the Los Angeles 2028 Games, where it hopes to be part of the Olympic program, lacrosse is gaining momentum. The sport’s world governing body – World Lacrosse – has announced six new member federations. Five of them are from Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Togo. The sixth is the federation of Malta. With these new entrants, World Lacrosse now has 85 member nations. This group of six is the largest addition of new federations since August 2008 and the second largest since 1974. World Lacrosse has welcomed 12 new members since the beginning of 2022. The growth of the game is particularly spectacular in Africa. The African Confederation now has 11 members, seven of whom joined last year. Over the past decade, World Lacrosse’s membership has grown by nearly 90 percent.
