Photo: Luca Dugaro // Unsplash
This morning, French police searched the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics organizing committee and the offices of SOLIDEO, the public body responsible for delivering the Olympic and Paralympic infrastructure that will remain after the games. The French National Financial Prosecutor’s office told the New York Times that the searches were part of two separate corruption investigations regarding potential conflicts of interest, embezzlement and favoritism connected to public contracts signed by Games’ organizers.
The national financial prosecutor’s office (PNF) told Reuters the Paris 2024 headquarters were raided as part of an investigation that began in 2017 into procurement contracts signed by the Olympics organizing committee. The committee is in charge of planning, organizing and financing the Games, in coordination with Paris City Hall, the International Olympic Committee, and the French sports authorities.
Meanwhile, the raid on SOLIDEO was part of an investigation into procurement contracts signed by the group. The investigation began in 2022, after an audit by the French Anti-Corruption Agency. According to SOLIDEO’s website, the group is overseeing 58 Olympic and Paralympic projects, and is directly managing construction of the Olympic and Paralympic Village, as well as the Media Cluster urban development zones.
Though SOLIDEO is involved with permanent Olympic structures built on the French mainland, it is unclear whether this investigation relates to any infrastructure being built in Tahiti for the surfing event at Teahupo’o. While not as serious legally, the surfing event has had its own detractors regarding speculation about whether the venue will spell trouble for athletes who aren’t already experienced with the famously dangerous wave.
The police raids occurred concurrently with the beginning of a two-day International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board meeting to discuss a number of issues, including the progress of the Paris 2024 Games preparations.
“We are aware that there has been a search by police of the Paris 2024 headquarters today,” an IOC spokesperson said. “We have been informed by Paris 2024 that they are cooperating fully with the authorities in this matter.”
