Paris Olympics: Offices of organizers searched in corruption case

PARIS –

French investigators searched the headquarters of the Paris Olympic organizers on Tuesday as part of corruption investigations into contracts linked to the Games.

The Paris organizing committee said in a statement that a search was underway at their headquarters in the suburb of Saint-Denis, and said it was cooperating. It declined to comment further.

Tuesday’s search and other related raids were linked to two preliminary investigations related to the Olympics that had not previously been made public, according to a Treasury Department official, who was not authorized to be publicly named under office policy. One probe opened in 2017 — the year Paris was selected by the International Olympic Committee to host 2024 — and the other began last year.

Allegations of corruption have hung over the world’s biggest sporting event many times – from allegations about how the Games were awarded in the first place to how construction, sponsorship and team service contracts were handed out.

Allegations of vote buying in connection with the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and the 2021 Tokyo Games led to the removal of several members of the IOC.

Those scandals revived memories of those surrounding the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games, which led to reforms that limited IOC members’ contact with candidate countries, but did not completely eliminate the scope for corruption.

But Paris 2024 had done everything it could to prove it would be different. The biggest event France has hosted in decades, the Games are heralded as a celebration of openness after two Olympics closed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and as an example of democratic celebration after two World Cups tainted by human rights concerns in Qatar and Russia.

Organizers and Paris City Hall have emphasized a spirit of transparency and social justice — including planning an outdoor opening ceremony along the Seine that will be free for up to half a million people. The Games are scheduled for July 26-Aug. 11, 2024.

Saccage 2024, an anti-Olympic group that claims the Games are causing widespread environmental and social damage, said it was “extremely pleased” that the raids took place.

“For us, an event of Olympic proportions cannot be held without corruption,” the group said in a statement. “It’s the size of the event that makes it necessary, regardless of the country.”

The inquiry, opened in 2017, examines suspected misappropriation of public funds and nepotism, and concerns over an unspecified contract reached Paris organizers, the prosecutor’s office said.

The 2022 one followed an audit by the French anti-corruption agency. The prosecutor’s office said the case focuses on suspected conflicts of interest and favoritism related to several contracts signed by the organizing committee and Solideo, the government agency responsible for Olympic infrastructure.

The offices of that body were also searched, prosecutors said. According to the newspaper Le Monde, the headquarters of several companies and advisers involved in the organization of the Games were also raided.

Solideo is overseeing the construction and renovation of more than 60 multibillion-dollar Olympic Games projects, including the Athletes’ Village in the Saint-Denis district, which will provide approximately 2,000 residential units after the games.

The IOC said in a statement that it was informed by the organizers that they are cooperating with authorities. It made no further comment.

The raids unfolded as the IOC Executive Board began a two-day meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.

IOC President Thomas Bach told reporters early Monday that the meeting “will, of course, be about Paris, where we have good news after the visit of the coordination mission and after my visit to France, to President Macron, and also to the organizing committee.”

Six years ago, Paris was crowned with the Olympic Games – and at the same time the IOC also awarded its only remaining rival, Los Angeles, with the 2028 Summer Games.

By avoiding a contested vote, there was no room for vote trading and bribery in a process that has since been effectively changed again to shut down public campaigns. Brisbane was chosen to host the 2032 Summer Games two years ago after being pre-selected by the IOC to receive exclusive negotiating rights.

The run-up to the 2024 Games has caused unrest in French sport.

Last month, the president of the French Olympic Committee resigned after a period of intense power struggle, prompting calls from Parisian organizers for sports leaders to put aside differences and focus on delivering the Games.

Also, Noel Le Graet resigned as president of the French football federation in February after a government audit found he no longer had the legitimacy to lead because of his behavior towards women and his management style. Bernard Laporte resigned as president of the French Rugby Federation in January after being convicted of corruption and illegally acquiring assets and given a suspended prison sentence.

Last October, Claude Atcher was fired as CEO of the Rugby World Cup. That event kicks off in France in September and will also serve as a test of France’s security preparations for the Olympic Games. Atcher’s removal followed an investigation by French labor inspectors into his behavior in the workplace.

——

Dunbar contributed from Geneva. AP Sportswriter Samuel Petrequin reported from Brussels.