Will there be an Olympic boycott in 2028? Some LA City Council members are worried

The killing of another protester by immigration agents in Minneapolis and President Trump's ongoing threats against Greenland have fueled calls to boycott World Cup matches held in the U.S. this summer — including in Los Angeles.

The suggestion from a former FIFA president and others led some in City Hall to worry that the coming 2028 Olympics could also get the cold shoulder.

"We have a national government who is setting the stage for an environment where we could have a serious boycott," Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said during a committee meeting on the Olympic Games Monday.

John Harper, an executive with private Olympics organizing committee LA28, said that the organization had not discussed the possibility with the International Olympic Committee and that he was not concerned a boycott would take place in 2028.

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City Council members did not seem convinced.

"This conversation around FIFA, that's just a forewarning," said Councilmember Monica Rodriguez. "We need to have a Plan B."

The city of Los Angeles stands to lose if spectators or countries opt out of the 2028 Olympics. L.A. is the financial guarantor of the Games, along with the state of California, and a significant boycott could affect the financial success of the massive sporting event.

"We could be talking about a lot more irreparable harm, financially," Rodriguez said.

Fresh concerns about a boycott also come as anxiety in City Hall has been growing about the role the federal government will play at the Games.

The City Council recently passed a motion requesting that LA28 provide more details on the federal Olympics task force on security that Trump announced last year, citing the ICE agents who have descended on the streets of Los Angeles and other U.S. cities

The Olympics have been a frequent arena of political protest over the decades, including in Los Angeles in 1984 when the Soviet Union led a boycott of the Games.

"We never talk about the boycott of '84, but there was a significant boycott," Harris-Dawson said Monday. "It doesn't mean that you can't figure it out, but it also means we have to face it and face it directly."