It is a takeover that does not say its name. Emmanuel Macron had convened an “Olympic and Paralympic Council” on Monday July 25, two years almost to the day from the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (July 26 to August 11). Gathered at the Elysée around the President of the Republic, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, a dozen ministers, the interministerial delegate for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Michel Cadot, the president of Paris 2024, Tony Estanguet, or even Laurent Nunez, the successor at the head of the police headquarters of Didier Lallement, much criticized after his management of the incidents at the Stade de France.
The President of the Republic recalled, during this ” site meeting “its desire to preserve the ambition of Paris 2024, battered in recent weeks by doubts about the capacity of the organizers of the Games in terms of security and budget. “The budget for the Games will be kept”, insisted the Elysée.
In an interim report – the final report is expected by the end of the year – on the organization of the Olympics, the Court of Auditors was however very alarmist, as revealed The chained DuckWednesday, July 20.
The magistrates of rue Cambon are particularly concerned about the organization of the opening ceremony of the Games, on the Seine, and call for the general mobilization of the services concerned. “A more precise definition of security needs is becoming urgent”point out the authors of the pre-report, adding: “It is imperative to arbitrate and enter the operational planning and resource organization phase. »
“A logistical and security challenge”
“There are a number of recommendations in this report that we are already working on”supports Paris 2024. The teams of the Organizing Committee (Cojop) nevertheless acknowledge having had “a heat stroke” the day after the incidents at the Stade de France when the scenes of chaos observed on the sidelines of the Champions League final on May 28 raised doubts, in the eyes of the whole world, of France’s ability to organize an event like the Games Olympics.
The opening ceremony, on July 26, 2024, represents a major challenge: 12 km of banks to be secured between the Austerlitz and Iéna bridges; 160 to 180 boats on which the delegations to be inspected will parade; dozens of heads of state to protect at the Trocadéro; 600,000 spectators to control; an airspace to be defended against drone attacks, a risk feared by the Court of Auditors; etc “The opening ceremony is a logistical and security challenge”recognize all of the Games’ stakeholders.
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