Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Rubio: 'Very short window', maybe days, for Hamas to accept deal
Al Mayadeen correspondent to southern Lebanon: Israeli warplanes launched a raid on the Ksar Zaatar neighborhood in western Nabatieh.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The tower destroyed by the Israeli occupation in Gaza includes media offices, including Al Mayadeen's bureau.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: Four fetuses and three premature babies died at Nasser Medical Complex due to malnutrition
Lebanese Ministry of Health: One person was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a car in the town of Burj Qalawieh, south Lebanon.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: The first ship of the Maghreb fleet delivering aid to break the siege on Gaza departs from the port of Gammarth in Tunisia.
Channel 12: Airspace closed at Ramon Airport due to fears of drone infiltration
IOF Spokesperson: Sirens sounded over an aircraft infiltration in the Bir Ora area, and details are being examined
Drone infiltration sirens sound north of the Gulf of Aqaba
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The Israeli occupation carried out five extremely violent raids on the western areas of Gaza City

Scandal looms over the Paris 2024 Olympics

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Le Monde
  • 31 Jul 2023 23:23
5 Min Read

Two preliminary investigations are being conducted, one of which is looking into claims of favoritism and conflicts of interest involving two organizing committee members of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

  • x
  • The Olympic rings are set up on Trocadero plaza that overlooks the Eiffel Tower, a day after the official announcement that the 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be in the French capital, in Paris, France, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017. (AP)
    The Olympic rings are set up on Trocadero plaza that overlooks the Eiffel Tower, a day after the official announcement that the 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be in the French capital, in Paris, France, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017. (AP)

The Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris 2024 (COJOP) is under siege. The wave of searches conducted in June as part of two preliminary investigations headed by the Parquet National Financier (France's national financial prosecutor, PNF) has raised the possibility that the event's key figures would be implicated even before the competition begins.

These dramatic anti-corruption police raids took place at the COJOP offices and the Société de Livraison des Ouvrages Olympiques (SOLIDEO), a governmental entity in charge of infrastructure.

This was a "crushing blow" and "bad publicity a year before the Games," as COJOP's lawyer Charlotte Plantin acknowledged, "even though the committee is under scrutiny and has endeavored to be exemplary."

Read next: 2024 Olympic torch relay to start in Marseille

Following tentative findings from the Agence Française Anticorruption (France's anti-corruption agency, AFA) and a report to the judiciary by a Paris councilor, a preliminary inquiry into suspected irregularities and conflicts of interest connected to public contracts was launched in 2022. An initial criminal procedure that began in 2017 is also gaining traction.

Several contracts awarded by the Paris bidding committee (GIP 2024) and COJOP are being investigated for illegal conflicts of interest, favoritism, and theft of public funds. They also concentrate on the conflicts of interest that resulted from the departures of Etienne Thobois (current CEO of COJOP) and Edouard Donnelly (executive director of operations) from their former business Keneo, which they co-founded in 2008.

Investigation into files 

Thobois and Donnelly's residences were searched. Investigators also seized Keneo's archives, which were initially acquired in 2016 by Japanese corporation Dentsu and then, in 2021, by entrepreneur Vincent de Bary, covering the years 2012-2020.

Related News

Macron and Starmer to lead Paris talks on 'Coalition of the Willing'

Ansar Allah slams Syrian-Israeli meeting in Paris as betrayal

These investigations stem from a report filed in 2017 by entrepreneur André Aubouy, who was a failed bidder for a contract with the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF, the National Olympic Committee of France) for the 2012 London Olympics. A person familiar with the case added, "There was a privileged relationship between Keneo and the CNOSF. The call for tenders was just there for grandstanding."

Read next: Paris Olympics tickets viewed pricey, ticketing process complicated

Another person close to the probe said that the present investigation is looking into "the conditions of award, retraction, and compensation for this contract." The PNF is also investigating Thobois' employment as CEO of GIP 2024 in 2015, as well as the contracts signed by the bidding committee and Keneo in the aftermath. 

The PNF is also looking into the controversial recruitment of Donnelly by Paris 2024 in November 2022 after he sold his shares in RNK, a company he founded with his brother in 2020. Shortly before the sale, RNK had been awarded the €19 million Olympic torch relay contract through a company in which it holds half the shares.

Could the discomfort brought by the PNF investigations go away?

The Paris 2024 Ethics Committee, which was established in 2018 with promises of independence, authorized Donnelly's recruitment in October 2022. However, the committee required him to step aside and refrain from making any decisions or giving instructions concerning the RNK.

"After a very thorough investigation, the Ethics Committee issued a favorable opinion with reservations, which it verified were respected," explained Jean-Marc Sauvé, former vice president of the Conseil d'État (France's highest administrative court) and chairman of the Paris 2024 Ethics Committee.

COJOP has been attempting to defuse the Keneo-RNK controversy since the searches, citing audits by the Cour des Comptes (the national administrative court entrusted with conducting financial and legislative audits of public organizations), the AFA, and the statutory auditors.

"I don't see what COJOP could have done better in terms of containment [and] recusal with an Ethics Committee that is an ultra-solid safeguard," said lawyer Charlotte Plantin.

As some people close to the situation have pointed out, the dispute casts a sharp light on "inbreeding" within the "tiny, unstructured world" of sporting events. Following the corruption scandals associated with the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021 editions, it has revived a continuous melancholy surrounding the Olympic Games organization.

The chairman further admitted that the Ethics Committee, which "has no means of investigation or search," "is not competent" for the years before 2018, "especially the bidding process and the award of the 2024 Games."

The International Olympic Committee remains quiet while these investigations are ongoing and is only "welcoming COJOP's cooperation with the authorities." Between now and the Games, the discomfort brought on by the PNF investigations is not likely to go away. There might be new legal fronts created.

  • Paris
  • SOLIDEO
  • 2024 Olympics
  • France
  • COJOP
  • Paris 2024 Olympics

Most Read

The damaged building in the Katara neighborhood, Doha, Qatar, September 9, 2025 (Social media)

Hamas delegation survives Israeli assassination attempt in Qatar

  • Politics
  • 9 Sep 2025
Pro-"Israel" conservative Charlie Kirk shot during Utah speech

American far-right activist Charlie Kirk shot dead during Utah speech

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025
Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza.

Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza

  • Politics
  • 12 Sep 2025
A screengrab from the ad played on Fox News. (X Screengrab)

Fox airs ad warning Trump not to let Netanyahu 'play' him on Gaza

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
President Nicolas Maduro gestures to supporters during the inauguration of a monument in China's honor on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, September 3, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Maduro warns of threats, urges 'battle for truth' to defend Venezuela

Damage is seen after an Israeli strike targeted a compound that hosted Hamas' political leadership in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
Politics

Netanyahu informed Trump before deadly attack in Doha: Reports

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hold a joint press conference at the Prime Minister's Office, during Rubio's visit, in occupied al-Quds, occupied Palestine, Monday, September 15, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu warns of Israeli isolation, calls to boost self-reliance

Spain axes €700Mln arms deals with 'Israel' over Gaza genocide
Politics

Spain axes €700Mln arms deals with 'Israel' over Gaza genocide

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS