Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
National
RFI

French financial prosecutors raid Paris 2024 Olympics headquarters

The Olympic rings at Paris's Trocadero plaza overlooking the Eiffel Tower. © Michel Euler / AP

French police on Thursday raided the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics Committee in yet another probe in connection with an ongoing investigation into alleged favouritism in awarding contracts for the Games.

Organisers of the Paris 2024 Olympics said their headquarters had been raided Wednesday by the country's national financial prosecutor.

A judicial source said the raid, which also targeted event management firms, was part of an ongoing probe into alleged favoritism.

The Olympic committee said in a statement to reporters that the office had “obtained all the information it requested”, and that it was “cooperating fully with the investigation, as it has always done”.

Contracts examined

The raid, which also targeted companies involved in putting on the 26 July 2024 Opening Ceremony – Double2, Ubibene, Obo and Paname24 – is part of a probe opened into suspicion of "illegal taking of interest, favoritism and concealment" in the award of several contracts, a source told Reuters.

The probe was opened after raids conducted in June 2023, in connection with previous probes. In those raids, investigators searched the committee’s headquarters in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, as well as Solideo, the public entity that is building the infrastructure for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Olympic committee and Solideo expect to spend 8 billion euros on the Games, and organisers are now the target of at least three investigations into how several contracts have been awarded.

A probe was opened in 2017 into favouritism, followed by a second in 2022, with further charges following an audit by the French anti-corruption agency.

(with Reuters)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.