Serial searches, industrial tribunal trials, budget exceeded… Nothing is going well for the organizers of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. One year before the start of the events, the Cojo (Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games) has chained setbacks in the space of a week. On the budgetary level as legal, the problems accumulate.
Starting with the need to save money. A report from the Court of Auditors published on Wednesday June 21 claimed that the Games budget was “underestimated” and that there would be “optimization efforts to be made” by the summer of 2024. this currently amounts to 4.4 billion euros. It was increased in 2022 by 400 million euros, partly due to inflation. But according to the Court of Auditors, “two thirds” of the increase “result not from a drift in management or an inconsiderate development of the project, but from an obvious underestimation of the application budget and from a lack of knowledge little understandable of the complexity of the specifications of the IOC (International Olympic Committee)”.
However, the Cojo presents each month to the State a follow-up of the budget and calls for tenders. The revaluation of 400 million euros was also deemed “transparent and rigorous” by the Court of Auditors. Good will for the moment insufficient, since it will take “further measures to reduce service levels to ensure the final balance”, note the magistrates. They then identified several elements to be reworked, including partnerships, which represent almost a third of the Cojo’s budget. A significant part of them are not yet secure. The Court therefore asked the committee to “imperatively” conclude the contract with LVMH, announced at 140 million euros and still not signed.
Delays and searches
In addition to an underestimated budget, the Cojo has to deal with delays in the work undertaken. The Court of Auditors stressed the urgency of tackling transport. Several metro stations are still under construction and absolutely must open for the Games. “These infrastructure projects remain essential to ensure the fluidity” of traffic, notes the Court. Another difficulty: the Olympic works, the construction of which is ensured by Solideo (Olympic works delivery company). Projects such as the Arena at the Porte de la Chapelle have fallen behind schedule and are being optimized.
The Cojo will have to take on this race against time without letting its legal troubles catch up with it. A series of searches took place this week as part of two investigations by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF). The Cojo itself, Solideo and Keneo, a consulting firm specializing in sports, were concerned.
The first investigation, opened in 2017, focuses on a series of contracts awarded in particular by the Cojo to prepare for the Olympic Games. The offenses covered are illegal taking of interests, embezzlement of public funds, favoritism and concealment of favouritism. Opened in 2022, the second investigation concerns contracts awarded by the Cojo and Solideo. Its purpose is “consulting contracts” on “different subjects”, a source familiar with the matter told AFP. Illegal taking of interests, favoritism and concealment of favoritism are retained.
Another pebble in the shoes of the organizers: the industrial tribunal trial of several building giants. This June 20, ten workers who worked without papers on the sites of the Games assigned Vinci, Eiffage, Spie Batignolles and GCC to the industrial tribunal of Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis). They hope to obtain “recognition” of their work and the payment of salary arrears. As the start of the events approaches, the Cojo’s troubles do not seem to be over.