By Karolos Grohmann
PYLOS, Greece (Reuters) – Organisers of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics on Thursday moved to ease concerns among International Olympic Committee members over visas and entry requirements for athletes and officials for those Games.
Since taking office on January 20, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a number of immigration-related executive orders that focus on stricter border policy, tighter visa vetting procedures and a crackdown on undocumented migrants in the United States.
IOC members, including the President of the International Equestrian Federation Ingmar De Vos, asked LA 2028 Games chairman Casey Wasserman at the session in southern Greece about concerns about visas and entry requirements for athletes at the Games given the recent developments in the United States.
“We have had four different administrations, three different presidents in our bid process,” Wasserman told the IOC session.
“All of them have affirmed and reaffirmed their commitment to both full access for everyone and the Olympic Charter.
Los Angeles was awarded the Games in 2017.
“The Commerce and the State Department under (former President Joe) Biden at the end, created an accelerated visa programme specifically for athletes,” Wasserman said.
“And in my many conversations with President Trump and Secretary (of State Marco) Rubio, they understand the scale and complexity required to deliver these Games, the access required for not just athletes but for delegations and the incredibly short timeframe on which to do those.”
The IOC has repeatedly said it was fully confident of the full support of Trump for the Games, with the president also in charge back in 2017 when the U.S. won the nod to host them.
“We will have a fully staffed desk at State (department) focusing just on this issue in the next 12 months to get prepared for this and I don’t anticipate any problems from any country to come and participate and have their delegations in full force and be part of the Games in Los Angeles,” Wasserman said.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, Editing by William Maclean)
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