2023-06-20 13:45:20
Around 14 months before the start of the Olympic Games, investigators searched the headquarters of the Olympic organizers in Paris as part of investigations by the financial public prosecutor. The construction company responsible for the games is also affected, as the Paris financial prosecutor confirmed on Tuesday. It is about preliminary investigations on suspicion of illegal influence, misappropriation of public funds, favoritism and aid to favoritism.
The Olympic organizers confirmed the search on Tuesday morning. They are fully cooperating with the investigators to support their investigations, it said. He did not say what the searches were about. According to the newspaper “Le Monde”, there were also raids on the headquarters of several companies and consultants involved in organizing the games.
The Paris Olympics are scheduled from July 26 to August 11, 2024. The raids coincided with the start of a two-day meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive to commend the Paris organizers for their progress.
Paris is the third consecutive Summer Games organizer to be embroiled in an investigation by anti-corruption agencies. Several members of the International Olympic Committee have already been expelled from this organization because of allegations of vote-buying in connection with the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the Tokyo 2021 Games.
Just a few weeks ago, the head of the French Olympic Committee, Brigitte Henriques, submitted her resignation. According to French media, the decision follows power struggles within the committee. There should have been disagreements with her predecessor Denis Masseglia in particular. The broadcaster France Info wrote of a “disgrace” for the committee and a “management crisis”.
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