Officials ask whether Trump ban order will harm LA’s Olympic bid
THE torch won’t be lit on the 2024 Olympics for seven and a half years, but already there’s one name that looms over the whole affair. While Olympics observers debate whether President Trump helps or hurts Los Angeles’ efforts to host the Summer Games, Olympics insiders are wrestling with just how to handle the polarising president.
“They’re damned if they do, damned if they don’t,” said David Carter, the executive director of the Sports Business Institute at USC’s Marshall School of Business.
“If, as usually is the case, you have the president among your highest ranking officials promoting the bid, it draws controversy. If he’s not included in the conversation and not a part of the push, people will point a finger and say: ‘Ah-ha!’ It certainly puts the USOC in a tough spot.”
The LA2024 committee is expected to formally submit its candidacy paperwork this week to host the Summer Olympics and is one of three finalists, along with Paris and Budapest. The 95-member International Olympic Committee will select a winner in September.
While Trump has been a vocal supporter of the Los Angeles bid, some fear his words and actions could undermine the LA2024 committee’s efforts.
Trump’s recent executive order temporarily banning entry into the United States for refugees and migrants from seven Muslim-majority countries has sparked concern from some Olympic athletes and officials.
While most members of the IOC have remained silent on Trump’s edict, one of them, Richard Peterkin from St Lucia, tweeted on Saturday: “Trump’s Executive Order on immigration is totally contrary to Olympic idea ls. For him, collective respon- sibilit y t r umps indiv idua l just ice.”
The LA2024 committee has yet to comment on Trump’s recent actions, but Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti denounced the president’s order. “We are in a moment that we will look back on and ask ourselves what we did to stand up, speak out, and live up to our values,” he said in a statement on Monday.
‘Offended by Trump’
Garcetti, a Democrat and one of the prominent faces of city’s Olympic bid, spoke with Trump on the phone shortly after the election, at which time the soon-to-be-president pledged to help lure the Summer Games to the United States.
Trump has already had a phone call with IOC president Thomas Bach and some US Olympic officials have been buoyed by his enthusiasm for Los Angeles’s bid, even if they aren’t certain whether he is a help or hindrance in the process.
“With Trump, I think it’s more personal,” said David Wallechinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians. “This involves approximately 100 people voting. A certain number are women, a certain number are Muslim and a certain number are from Spanish-speaking countries.
“A lot of them have reason to feel offended by Trump. It’s almost beyond politics.”
Wallechinsky says the challenge facing LA2024 organisers is to make the city’s bid about California without necessarily alienating the president. “It’s awkward because they need the support of the US government for security,” he said, “so they can’t just separate themselves.”
Officials with the US Olympic Committee spent the weekend trying to understand the ramifications of the travel ban.
“We are working closely with the administration to understand the new rules and how we best navigate them as it pertains to visiting athletes,” Patrick Sandusky, a USOC spokesman, said in a statement.
“We know they are supportive of the Olympic movement and our bid and believe we will have a good working relationship with them to ensure our success in hosting and attending events.”
The president’s executive order on Friday did spark some more pressing concerns. A team of US freestyle wrestlers was slated to compete in a world championship tournament from February 16-17 in Kermanshah, Iran. Shortly after Trump’s order went into effect, the Iranian government announced it would limit visas to Americans.
Rich Bender, the executive director of USA Wrestling, said on Monday the US team is still planning to compete in Iran. He said USA Wrestling has received assurances that the American athletes will be allowed to enter Iran. “Is it possible we won’t get visas? It’s certainly possible,” Bender said.
“But we’re optimistic and hopeful that we’ll find out soon our visas have been stamped and we’ll be wheels up shortly.”
Paris ‘the frontrunner’
“I just don’t think it’s ultimately going to have a lasting impact. Obviously, it’s going to be a discussion point but not the ultimate downfall of the bid,” said Lisa Delpy Neirotti, an associate professor of sport management at George Washington University’s School of Business who has attended 18 Olympic Games.
Carter pointed to recently selected Olympics and World Cup sites, which include China, Russia and Qatar, and said domestic politics aren’t usually the deciding factor. “It’s about revenue,” he said. “It’s about how the IOC or FIFA [football’s international governing body] or whomever is going to fare financially.”
Los Angeles is expected to submit a cost-effective proposal that utilises many existing stadiums and facilities, though some Olympic observers contend that Paris, which also hosted the Summer Games in 1900 and 1924, is still the hands-on frontrunner.