“Strong uncertainties”. The Court of Auditors has once again scrutinized the budget of the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop) in 2024, and its conclusions are clear: there is still work to be done to ensure that the planned expenditure levels and the amounts of anticipated revenue are actually achieved and, in the end, that this budget is really in balance, as Paris 2024 has committed to.
“While the level of resources retained seems plausible, substantial uncertainties
remain, particularly for domestic partnerships”, that is to say the signature with sponsors, note the financial magistrates in a report relating to the preparation of the Games, submitted to Parliament.
As for expenses, “it is essential to precisely monitor the achievement of the savings selected and to ensure their effectiveness”, they warn. They call to continue “a continuous and systematic effort to find new optimizations” and not to exceed “the expenditure ceilings allocated to the Cojop directorates”.
This report from the Court of Auditors supplements the report which was submitted to Parliament on December 21, 2022 – and made public in January. This had not been able to take into account a certain number of arbitrations and decisions. Especially those that had been decided in the context of the budget revision voted in mid-December 2022.
Given a significant increase in expenditure, the board of directors of Cojop had revised the budget upwards by 400.4 million euros, bringing it to 4.38 billion, recording a certain number of savings, but also an increase in revenue expected to preserve the balance of the accounts.
Conclude “imperatively” with LVMH to hold revenue
With regard to expenditure, the Court of Auditors recalls that the budget revision led the Cojop to add 320 million euros of additional commercial revenue to its forecasts. An increase in income, particularly from domestic partnerships and ticket sales, which it describes as “substantial” And “partly voluntary”.
If the financial magistrates consider that this “revaluation of Cojop’s resources seems plausible”they nonetheless emphasize that Paris 2024 must “imperatively”to achieve its revenue target, conclude “the tier 1 partnership with LVMH” and that the commitments made by the State to obtain 100 million euros from national partnerships
additional via large French companies “are also bound”.
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