French police search Paris 2024 Olympics offices amid corruption probe
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French police raided the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics organizing committee Tuesday morning local time as part of two “preliminary investigations” into misuse of public funds. The office of France’s National Financial Prosecutor said in a statement that searches were underway at multiple sites, including the committee’s main office in Saint-Denis, a northern Paris suburb, and the headquarters of Solideo, the public body responsible for the construction of Paris’s Olympic venues.
Prosecutors opened investigations in 2017 and 2022 into alleged embezzlement of public funds, favoritism and concealment of favoritism in connection with contracts awarded in advance of the games.
The “investigation should be allowed to run its course,” the Paris 2024 committee said in a statement confirming its headquarters had been searched.
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While Paris 2024′s offices were being raided, the International Olympic Committee’s executive committee was hearing a scheduled report from IOC officials lauding Paris 2024′s organizers for selling new sponsorship deals and quickly selling out the 6.8 million tickets that have been put up for sale.
In. a press call after the meeting, Christophe Dubi, the IOC’s executive director, praised Paris 2024 leaders for what he called “transparency” and “cooperation” in the investigation, adding that Paris 2024 “took the right attitude” in how it has handled the raid.
“We have all reasons to be confident,” Dubi said, referring both to the French investigation and the IOC’s belief in Paris 2024′s ability to host the Games.
The raid comes less than a month after Brigitte Henriques, the former president of France’s National Olympic Committee, which organizes the French Olympic team, announced her sudden resignation and asked for an internal audit following public tensions with other committee leaders.
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French President Emmanuel Macron, who was an outspoken proponent of hosting the Games, has staked political capital on their success, announcing ambitious projects in the run-up, including a plan to clean the Seine and the Marne rivers, to make them swimmable.
Financial scandals have rocked the Olympics in recent years, including bribery charges tied to the 2020 Tokyo Games sponsorships.
The Paris Olympic Games are scheduled to take place July 26 to Aug. 11 next year.
Les Carpenter contributed to this report.
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Source: The Washington Post
