LAUSANNE: Olympic chief Kirsty Coventry said on Wednesday she was confident for the successful hosting of the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles despite what she described as “challenges” for the World Cup.
But the build-up to the June 11-July 19 World Cup has been marred by fans, a top referee and team officials being barred from the tournament. A record 48 teams and millions of supporters are descending on the three host countries for the largest and most logistically complex World Cup ever staged.
But the refusal of US immigration authorities to allow Somali referee Omar Artan, one of Africa’s leading match officials, into the country underlined fears that US President Donald Trump’s immigration policy could leave deep scars on the tournament.
“We’re obviously very aware and following the World Cup as it gets closer and closer to kick-off time,” said Coventy, the president of the International Olympic Committee. “I am confident that in two years we will be able to overcome a number of the challenges that the World Cup are facing right now.”
That, Coventry told a press conference, took “collaboration and learning”.
“The task force and everyone on the ground now are learning and we can only continue to work very closely with the OCOG (local organising committee), the USOPC (the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee), at this moment to continuously give our feedback we are receiving from stakeholders.
“Then it’s our job to monitor that, to advocate for that and for athletes and their entourage to be able to ensure that they are there in the LA28 Games.” Coventry added: “We’re going to consistently work with them, we’re going to consistently collaborate with them.
“As soon as we get any feedback from the Olympic movement and our stakeholders, we relay that directly to them.
“This is just a part of the process, so we have to just continue having faith in that process.
“And I do believe that we will see a successful LA 2028.”
The Los Angeles Olympics are slated for July 14-30, 2028, when President Trump will still be in power.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, organisers of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics said they will open a second public ticket sale from Aug 10-20 after selling more than 4 million tickets in an initial release. LA28 said residents of the Los Angeles and Oklahoma City areas bought nearly 75% of tickets sold in the first drop, including about 500,000 tickets priced at $28 and 95% of available tickets under $100.
“The second sale will include tickets across all Olympic sports and price points, subject to availability. Fans must register by July 22 for the LA28 ticket draw, which assigns purchase time slots at random. Those selected for the August sale will be notified on Aug 6-7,” organisers said.
LA28 will also hold a Visa cardholder presale from July 29-31, with selected fans to be notified on July 27. Fans chosen for the Visa presale will not be eligible for a time slot in the second public drop. Each buyer may purchase up to 12 Olympic tickets, plus up to 12 additional football tournament tickets. A four-ticket limit applies to ceremonies and counts toward the 12-ticket Olympic maximum.
LA28 said tickets from the first release were claimed by fans in 85 nations, all 50 US states and its territories.
Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2026