Which country will host the 2028 Olympics? Olympic Games and 2026 World Cup matches under threat as wildfires rage in Los Angeles

The sporting events could be under threat from wildfires - that are currently blazing across Los Angeles and has killed at least 24 people. A series of wind-driven fires have torn through swathes of the city in California since Tuesday (7 January) causing the destruction of thousands of buildings and costs already expect to exceed $135bn (£109.7bn).

Iris Stewart-Frey, professor in environmental science at Santa Clara University in California, told BBC Sport, that the fires are a “wake-up call” to the organisers of the major sporting events. She said: "In no place are we immune from the things we have done to the environment. In many ways it is a wake-up call."

Evacuation orders are currently in place for areas just northwest of the UCLA campus, where the Olympic Village is to be held. The SoFi Stadium (30km from Inglewood) and the Carson Stadium (45km from Carson) could also be in harm’s way - venues that will be hosting 2026 World Cup football matches.

A Lakers game against the Charlotte Hornets was postponed due to the current raging wildfires which highlighted how even sports cannot escape the devastation. According to a study from the University of California, Davis, high-severity wildfires in California have been increasing by about 10 percent per decade since 1984, which was the last time LA hosted the summer Olympic Games.

The 2028 Games are set to take place between July 14 to July 30, 2028, right in the middle of California’s traditional fire season. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), seven of the twenty largest wildfires in California have occurred in July.

Many of the Olympic events will take place in downtown Los Angeles, spread across three arenas and stadiums. Other events will take place far from downtown LA, in Inglewood, Long Beach, Carson, and Temecula, the latter of which is two hours from downtown LA by car. Several of those locations are among the places where fires recur with some regularity.

Currently the Palisades and Eaton Fires are continuing to burn as 105,000 people have been placed under evacuation orders. For evacuees who are unsure whether their homes have been spared by the inferno, they are eagerly awaiting the announcement that it's safe for them to return home.

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced he was deploying 1,000 more California National Guard service members to assist in Los Angeles. He said there's now around 2,500 service members mobilised, who will "continue to help keep the communities devastated by the fires safe."