Paris (AFP)
The Court of Auditors points to potential additional costs for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in particular related to security, according to Le Canard Enchaîné to be published on Wednesday, which quotes a provisional report from the Court on the organizing committee.
The Paris 2024 organizing committee (Cojo) immediately told AFP that this was only a provisional version of the report, to which they will respond by the board of directors on December 17, which must precisely finalize a savings plan announced before the summer.
For its part, the Court of Auditors "deplored" this publication which "undermines the smooth running of the procedures surrounding the adversarial phase".
"The magistrates have already detected + risk of additional costs which probably amount to more than 400 million euros", explains the Duck, citing the provisional report.
Paris 2024 explained to AFP that the Court of Auditors based its report on figures from the beginning of 2019, precisely before it commits to savings of 400 million euros on the 3.8 million budget initially programmed to organize 15 days of events.
Savings linked to the elimination of temporary equipment generated 150 million euros out of the 400 million euros projected.
On the security side, "the initial assumptions must be widely reviewed", according to the report cited by the Duck, advancing the figure of 125 million additional euros necessary to ensure security, in particular for urban sports which must take place at Place de la Concorde, but also on cybersecurity.
This line was indeed "to be readjusted" had indicated a few weeks ago, a source close to Paris 2024. "It is the subject of concern number one of the new interministerial delegate to the JO", had entrusted to AFP another source close to the file.
The Court considers on the side of the sponsors that "substantial uncertainties affect the achievement of objectives. Of the 1.1 billion planned, the Cojo claims to have collected 500 million euros, and considers" incomplete "the figures of the provisional report.
Regarding salaries, the Court still reports according to the Canard Enchaîné, "salaries significantly higher on average than those observed in the private sector".
In 2017, a controversy was born when the Canard Enchaîné put forward the figure of 450,000 euros per year for the future treatment of Tony Estanguet, from projections sent to the Budget Department.
This figure was immediately denied by the bid committee, which gave way to the organizing committee.
A remuneration committee was set up in 2018, proposed a grid and ensures its respect, it was reported in Paris 2024.
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