In an announcement planned for 5:00pm local time in Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti is expected to confirm that LA has reached an agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, leaving rival Paris to stage the earlier edition in 2024.
The Los Angeles Times reported early Monday that a deal has been reached that will lead to a tripartite agreement among LA, Paris and the IOC, one that has been in the planning stages since the IOC voted earlier this month to award both cities with back-to-back Games next decade.
LA 2024 tweeted that “a special live announcement” from the Mayor with City Council President Herb Wesson will be live streamed on Facebook this afternoon.
Join #LA2024 at 5️⃣ PM PT today for a special announcement w/@MayorOfLA and @HerbJWesson!
Watch LIVE 💻 https://t.co/UqKVNTl3jF pic.twitter.com/UuaTtd4KbY
— LA28 (@LA28) July 31, 2017
Once the agreement is finalized, then confirmed by the LA City Council after details are discussed Friday, the IOC will likely approve the decision at its all-members Session September 13 in Lima, Peru. Both cities will be staging their third editions of the Games with Paris previously hosting in 1900 and 1924 while Los Angeles staged the event in 1932 and 1984.
No details have been disclosed about the deal, but Garcetti has discussed that he would negotiate for youth sports funding in LA to begin in a year-or-two.
He said last week “[The IOC is] making it financially – we’re negotiating this because we have some leverage – financially so attractive that we’d be stupid not to take 2028,”
Last month, however, IOC President Thomas Bach balked at the idea of financial rewards, describing the awarding of the 2028 Games “a gift” because the city wouldn’t have to go through the expense and risk of bidding again.
To prepare for the 2024 Games Paris will need to build an Olympic Village along the River Seine in Saint-Denis, build an aquatics centre in the same vicinity and then clean the river to make it swimmable for open-water events.
Los Angeles claim that no new construction will be required for its Games, but for 2028 it’s possible that aging venues may need some further upgrades. The IOC has assured that the program for 2028 will remain consistent with that in 2024 meaning the LA project wouldn’t need to change much for the subsequent edition of the Games.
