No noise LA fires could impact 2028 Olympic Games, UK broadcaster says
LA Olympics broadcaster Warner Bros. Discovery doesn’t believe recent Los Angeles fires will impact the 2028 Games.
Wild fires have swept across swathes of California in recent months, causing huge amounts of damage and forcing mass evacuations.
The city is set to host the next summer Olympics, in 2028, following on from Paris last year.
But WBD Sports Europe senior vice president Scott Young says the impact should be minimal.
“We have had conversations and there is no noise or discussion right now that it will have any impact on LA 2028,” he said. “The tragedy of these fires in Los Angeles is the focus right now and nobody is looking too far down the road.
LA still on course
“No infrastructure was significantly impacted, so they are not looking to rebuild anything that was required for the Olympic Games. The priority now is around the people, rebuilding homes and the infrastructure that has been damaged.”
Australian Young added that questions surrounding financial commitments to the Olympics over local communities from Californian officials would be “discussion for the local organising committee”, adding that Warner Bros. Discovery “don’t have a say in where the Olympic Games are held”.
It comes after IOC member, presidential candidate and President of the International Ski Federation billionaire Johan Eliasch warned that the host city must be better prepared for such natural disasters as fires.
“The lesson from this is that we need to make sure that [Olympics] organisers have the capacity and capabilities to deal with extreme weather events, because it’s not going to be less of it, it’s going to be more,” he added.
“Here is where climate readiness is paramount … and we need to make sure, for future Olympic hosts, they have the capabilities to deal with it. Now, fortunately, we have three and a half years to go.”