Tony Estanguet could not have imagined himself one day speaking at the United Nations desk in New York. However, it is there that, Tuesday November 21, in front of UN representatives, the president of the Organizing Committee for the Paris 2024 Games (Cojop) presented the draft resolution for the Olympic truce.
Brought before the General Assembly by France, host country of the next Olympic and Paralympic Games (JOP), and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the text, non-binding, was adopted by only 118 of the 193 member states of the UN. Entitled “For the building of a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal”, the resolution, as has been customary since 1993 – when the IOC relaunched the tradition ofEkecheiria (“truce”) in ancient Greece – enjoins participating countries to cease hostilities one week before the start of the Olympic Games and until one week after the end of the Paralympic Games.
In an international context made inflammable by the conflict between Israel and Hamas as well as by the war in Ukraine since the Russian attack, in February 2022, the vote on the resolution revealed the tensions at work in today’s world. ‘today. Because, for the first time in the history of the modern Olympic Games, the text was approved through a vote and not by consensus, as had been the case since the introduction of the truce for the Lillehammer Games in 1994.
It was Russia, banned from international sport, which pushed for the resolution to be put to a vote, after having worked behind the scenes to try, in vain, to include an amendment calling for “support the participation of all delegations and their athletes under their national flags”. The Games are a “precipitate international relations”, analysis the specialist in geopolitics of sport Jean-Baptiste Guégan. And vsthese could weigh in eight months in Paris, both on the security level and on the sporting level.
While the terrorist risk is at its highest – France raised its alert level after the Arras attack on October 13 – eyes and fears are converging on the Olympic opening ceremony on the Seine on July 26. At the IOC, we would not talk “just that”. Member of the Olympic committee, Guy Drut confirms: the subject is raised ” behind the scenes “ in Lausanne. “Many federations are asking questions about security”recognizes the former minister of sports.
“We are in regular contact with Paris 2024 and have every confidence in the ability of the Organizing Committee and the French authorities to organize safe and successful Games”responded, Monday, November 20, to World the organization based in Switzerland.
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