Due to preparatory work for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (installation of a new athletics track, installation of 5G telephony, etc.), the Stade de France in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), will be unavailable at from 1 December 2023 meaning there will be no football and rugby matches or concerts at the venue until September 2024.
Initially, the Organizing Committee for the Games (Cojop) was to have the enclosure from March 15 to September 20, 2024, for a non-exclusive provision initially (March 15 to September 1er June), then exclusive in a second phase (1er June to September 20). The Games will be held from July 26 to August 11 and the Paralympics from August 28 to September 8.
With the new work schedule, the Stade de France will therefore not host the matches of the 2024 Six Nations Tournament. For the Rugby Blues, who are to receive Ireland, Italy and England, the fallback solutions could be Marseille or Lyon, explained various sources to Agence France Presse. Football will also have to find other places both for the French team during the international window, from March 18 to 26, 2024, or for the final of the Coupe de France (May 25).
This longer than expected period of unavailability is the subject of tight negotiations between the Stade de France consortium, the State (owner of the stadium) and the Cojop, a source familiar with the matter told AFP. A part could be supported by the State.
In a report published on January 10, the Court of Auditors had estimated that the total cost of making the Stade de France available “will be significantly higher” to the 7.5 million euros advanced by the government in October 2016: if all the matches of the FFF and the FFR, as well as the concerts were canceled, the operating loss of the enclosure would amount to “in tens of millions of euros”noted the report, which insisted on the fact that this shortfall will have to “to be fully supported by the Cojop”.