Paris (AFP)

"I will not touch the DNA of the Games". The president of the organizing committee of the Paris-2024 Olympic Games (Cojo), Tony Estanguet wants to save "behind the scenes" of the Olympic Games, but no question for him to review their "ambition", he assured. in interviews with several media, including AFP.

Q: The Minister of Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, warned that there would be "probably" "cost overruns" in the budget for the Paris Olympics in 2024 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Do you share this fear?

A: Today there is no additional cost identified, either on infrastructure investments (3 billion euros, including 1.6 from the State and local authorities, NDR) or for the budget. organization of Paris-2024 (3.8 billion euros). Our objective will be to find solutions to deal with unforeseen events, with complexities which will generate additional costs. Opposite, how do we optimize other lines to save money? But today, the budget for Paris-2024 is still the same.

Q: Former Sports Minister Guy Drut, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), believes that the health crisis makes the Paris-2024 project "obsolete" and "outdated". What do you say to him?

A: We did not understand where this statement came from. The conditions of this project have always been those of a responsible, sober, useful project. We've been working hard for several years to build a new model of Games: 95% of existing equipment, halving the carbon impact, adding a societal dimension and a legacy like never before. This crisis, necessarily it turns the whole society upside down, so Paris-2024 will have to adapt. But we do not share his analysis at all.

Q: How will you adapt?

A: This crisis is not over and we have to keep a lot of humility. What is certain is that the challenge will be immense. Concretely, that means trying to always be one step ahead, room for maneuver to anticipate the unexpected.

There are things we do not want to touch, it is in the DNA of Paris 2024: a show, a very strong collective emotion, the most beautiful unifying event that our country is capable of organizing. Then there is the dimension of the heritage, how this project is useful, how it makes it possible to revive the French economy because a few billion euros will be reinvested, jobs generated, how we will do so that the markets will benefit to businesses in the social and solidarity economy.

To strengthen this, it is necessary to generate room for maneuver elsewhere: we think of catering, security, transport. There are many operations which are linked to the organization of the Games, which cannot be seen behind the scenes. Staying very ambitious in this context of crisis, it requires looking for room for maneuver that we had not necessarily identified.

Q: Are surfing in Tahiti or other additional sports (breakdance, skateboarding, climbing) threatened?

A: There is no questioning. We don't want to degrade the ambition of the project.

Q: Should we question the model, with fewer events, fewer athletes (10,500)?

A: The strength of the Games must be preserved, and this strength also lies in its universality, this diversity of sports and athletes from around the world, 200 countries who come together to demonstrate this very fraternal message around performance. It is the heart of the Games and I am not sure that it is the primary source of savings today. By working with the IOC, we have considerably reduced the capacity of the athletes' village, from 18,000 beds to less than 15,000. All of this allows us to generate savings that allow us to reinvest in more important subjects. Thanks to these Games, we will allow the Seine-Saint-Denis to have nine aquatic basins, the Solideo (Company for the delivery of Olympic works) will invest 70 million euros in the renovation of sports equipment in Ile-de -France. I will not touch the DNA of the Games.

Q: In this context of crisis, will you meet the objective of raising 1.2 billion euros from sponsors?

A: Yes. We are experiencing an unprecedented crisis and the urgency today is to revive the French economy. It necessarily disrupts our calendar because in the coming months, we can think that French companies will first think of their recovery rather than investing in sponsorship. Nevertheless, in order to have a certain number of exchanges, French companies consider that they will nevertheless need to associate themselves with strong moments, which have an incomparable strike force. There are sectors of activity, such as transport, which are terribly impacted. But there are other sectors, we continue to work with them. It will take a little longer, but the target remains the same.

Interview by Andrea BAMBINO

arb / pga / dep

© 2020 AFP