It is difficult to make a clearer and more decided opinion than that expressed on Tuesday by Tony Estanguet about the fears, expressed by the deputy mayor of Marseille Samia Ghali, of seeing a huge Paris 2024 logo appear on the facade of the Vélodrome. had thus justified the letter sent to the Organizing Committee: “The Vélodrome is the temple of football in Marseille, with its historic club. Putting Paris on the stadium would be very badly experienced by the Marseillaises and the Marseillais.
A concern perfectly understood by the President of the OCOG who did not seek to maneuver or save time on the subject: “It is not at all an obligation, we have never asked for this to be the case. . There is really this freedom given to the city of Marseille to put or not the logo there. We know that the Velodrome is a place that is easy to identify, to find, it is part of our country’s heritage; you don’t need to put the Paris 2024 signage on the Velodrome cap to find where the Games football match will be played. It’s important all the same, and I think it’s Marseille’s choice, to bring the magic of the Games to life here next year.
And Tony Estanguet to continue, to perhaps avoid other equally useless controversies in the future. “We identified, from the start, that the Paris 2024 Games had to adapt to the territories where they are organized. We want to give a lot of importance to subjects that don’t necessarily have any. The debate is constructive with the city of Marseille, we can see it here on the ground. While visiting Marseille for the sailing test-event, the three-time Olympic canoe-kayak champion also made a point of giving a very positive first assessment of this event: “We wanted to start the test operations of Paris 2024 here in Marseille with the sailing test-event, and since yesterday I am rather reassured because collectively, I see that we have ensured that in recent weeks, in recent months, everything is going well for the athletes . More than 50 countries are participating this week, it’s going very well, and that’s the important thing. I want to promote this territory, to promote Marseille, to show that there will be incredible competitions here for these Games. With or without a giant Paris 2024 sign on the facade of the Vélodrome, therefore.
