Donald Trump's immigration ban has thrown Los Angeles' bid for the 2024 Olympics into turmoil, as the city's mayor accused him of "fanning the flames of hatred".
The new US president's executive order severely restricting access to America by citizens of several Middle Eastern and African countries - potentially even those holding dual nationality with the likes of Britain - appeared to deal a major blow to LA's hopes of landing the Games later this year.
The International Olympic Committee votes in September whether to award sport's biggest event to LA, Paris or Budapest, and on Saturday, one of the officials who will decide their fate condemned what was among Trump's first acts since taking office.
"Trump's Executive Order on immigration is totally contrary to Olympic ideals," IOC member Richard Peterkin, of St Lucia, posted on Twitter:. "For him, collective responsibility trumps individual justice."
LA mayor Eric Garcetti, who has become one of the faces of the city's bid, issued a statement, saying: "Los Angeles will always be a place of refuge, where the most vulnerable people fleeing war, or religious or political oppression, can find a safe and welcoming home.
"Congress outlawed the banning of immigrants by nationality more than 50 years ago, because we have long known that it does not make us safer. It only fans the flames of hatred that those who wish us harm seek to spread."
