The countdown is now down to just a handful of numbers. This Monday, August 31, he could well mark only D – 4. Four days, not one more, before the anticipated end of the race for the Summer Games in 2024. Nothing is official yet, but according to Eric Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles, the Californian team would now be very close to an agreement. The matter could be concluded as early as Friday August 4. It would send the 2024 Games to Paris, then to Los Angeles the 2028 edition.
Very present in the media, at the end of July, the elected Democrat had dared to make a first admission in the middle of last week, assuring during an event organized by BuzzFeed in Palo Ranchos Verdes: “We would be stupid not to take 2028.” Clarifying his thoughts, he explained that the financial conditions now proposed by the IOC were becoming difficult to refuse.
Eric Garcetti advanced a new pawn at the end of the week. He explained to Southern California News Group that the end of the game was now imminent. “We are very, very close to an agreement,” he assured. But two weeks ago I thought we would have it already. » Be careful, then. But relative caution. The mayor of Los Angeles explains: “Our discussions (with the IOC and Paris 2024) are going very well. They are very harmonious. We should be successful in the coming week. The 2024 option is not ruled out. But we talked about what we would need for 2028.”
A date has been announced: Friday August 4. That day, a meeting of the Los Angeles City Council is scheduled with the subcommittee responsible for the Olympic file. Eric Garcetti will lead the debates. They could be decisive. The mayor said at the end of last week: “I am optimistic that an agreement will be reached next Friday. »
The end is near, but the series should have a few more episodes. In the event of formal agreement, the IOC will immediately open a new candidacy procedure for the 2028 Games. For the sake of form, nothing more. Los Angeles will be alone on the track. A small evaluation commission, still led by the Swiss Patrick Baumann, will then rush to the Californian metropolis. She will inspect the sites, just to check that the LA 2024 project can be transformed into an LA 2028 file, with only a few adjustments to make and a set of paperwork to complete. For form, nothing else.
