Tony Estanguet, the president of the organizing committee of the Paris Olympics in 2024, explained Tuesday that the year preceding the event would be both “decisive” and “difficult” while ensuring that there was no alert on crucial subjects such as security or transport.
“We know that the last year will be decisive, it will not be easy”, “a year of madness, a difficult year”, indicated Tony Estanguet during a press conference on Tuesday, almost a year before the Olympics (26 July-August 11). “But we also have to be calm,” he added.
On transport, a subject on which the Court of Auditors has often alerted, this is “moving in the right direction”, he assured. Bus contracts for accredited members have been awarded. “A lot of satisfaction, even if there is still work ahead of us,” he assured.
There is “no warning” regarding security, he added. The director general of the Cojo, Etienne Thobois, went further, praising the “quality” of the work on safety and transport, two crucial subjects.
With regard to ticketing, two phases have been launched, and a third is in progress. The Cojo has already collected one billion euros in revenue out of a target of 1.4 billion euros in the end out of an overall budget of 4.4 billion euros.
Regarding partnerships, while the LVMH group has been expected for months as one of the sponsors to complete the round table, Tony Estanguet spoke of “very constructive discussions”, ensuring that he was not “worried”. In total, one billion euros was garnered on a target of 1.24 billion euros. The objective is “to secure 92% by the end of the year”.
On the construction sites, “the deadlines are respected”, as also affirmed by the Solideo (Olympic works delivery company) responsible for the construction of the Olympic works.
“We are in the transition times, we have not backed down on anything”, he assured. “We don’t feel like we’ve been spared, a lot of things have happened in France and around the world that haven’t made it easy for us,” he said. In a way to cut short the criticism, he explained: “The balance sheet will be made on September 9, 2024” after the Paralympic Games have closed.
Asked about the preliminary investigation carried out by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) and which led to the search of the committee’s headquarters as well as the homes of two of the leaders of the Cojo, Tony Estanguet replied that he had “no again” and that they would continue to “cooperate”.
There is “no worrying element” with regard to the supplier Le Coq Sportif after the information of the newspaper l’Equipe according to which the equipment supplier was “late”, arousing the concern of the federations.
