![]() ![]() Paris was awarded its Olympics six years ago - and at the same time the IOC also rewarded its only remaining bid rival, Los Angeles, with the 2028 Summer Games.Īvoiding a contested vote removed the scope for vote-trading and bribery in a process that has since changed again to effectively shut down public campaigning. IOC president Thomas Bach told reporters early Monday the meeting “of course will be about Paris, where we have some good news after the visit of the coordination mission and after my visit to France, to President Macron, and also the organizing committee.” The raids unfolded as the IOC executive board began a two-day meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. The IOC said in a statement that it was informed by the organizers that they are cooperating with authorities. In a statement, Paris 2024 described itself “as one of the most audited organizations in France,” with regular monitoring of its governance and tough procedures aimed at “transparency and propriety” around contracts. ![]() Paris 2024 organizers would not comment on the contracts mentioned by prosecutors or the alleged wrongdoing. Solideo oversees construction and renovation of more than 60 projects for the multibillion-dollar Olympics - including the athletes’ village in the Saint-Denis neighborhood that is set to provide about 2,000 housing units after the games. According to Le Monde newspaper, raids also took place at the headquarters of several companies and consultants linked to the organization of the Games. That body’s offices were also searched, prosecutors said. The prosecutor’s office said that case targets suspected conflict of interest and favoritism involving several contracts reached by the organizing committee and Solideo, the public body in charge of Olympic infrastructure. The 2022 investigation followed an audit by the French Anti-corruption Agency. The probe opened in 2017 is looking into suspected embezzlement of public funds and favoritism, and concerns about an unspecified contract reached by Paris organizers, the prosecutor’s office said. “It’s the size of the event that makes it necessary, whatever the country.” “For us, an event of Olympic proportions cannot be held without corruption,” the group said in a statement. Saccage 2024, an anti-Olympics group that argues that the Games cause widespread ecological and social damage, said it was “very pleased” the raids took place. ![]() The organizers and Paris city hall have stressed a spirit of transparency and social justice - including planning an opening ceremony outdoors along the Seine River that will be free for up to half a million people. ![]() The biggest event France is hosting in decades, the Games are being billed as a celebration of openness after two Olympics closed off by the COVID-19 pandemic, and as an example of democratic celebration after two World Cups tainted by human rights concerns in Qatar and Russia. Scandals around the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games led to reforms that limited IOC members’ contact with candidate countries, though did not entirely remove the scope for corruption.īut Paris 2024 had gone to lengths to prove it would be different. Accusations of vote buying linked to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and the Tokyo Games in 2021 led to the removal of several members of the IOC. ![]()
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