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French police raided the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics organizing committee Tuesday morning native time as a part of two “preliminary investigations” into misuse of public funds.
The workplace of France’s Nationwide Monetary Prosecutor mentioned in an announcement that searches had been underway at a number of websites, together with the committee’s fundamental workplace in Saint-Denis, a northern Paris suburb, and the headquarters of Solideo, the general public physique liable for the development of Paris’s Olympic venues.
Prosecutors opened investigations in 2017 and 2022 into alleged embezzlement of public funds, favoritism and concealment of favoritism in reference to contracts awarded prematurely of the video games.
The “investigation ought to be allowed to run its course,” the Paris 2024 committee mentioned in an announcement confirming its headquarters had been searched.
“Paris 2024 is cooperating actively with investigators to facilitate their enquiries and supply solutions to all of the questions raised as rapidly as attainable,” the committee mentioned in a follow-up assertion later within the day, noting that it had arrange an inner ethics committee to oversee its actions.
Whereas Paris 2024′s workplaces had been being raided, the Worldwide Olympic Committee’s govt committee was listening to a scheduled report from IOC officers lauding Paris 2024′s organizers for promoting new sponsorship offers and rapidly promoting out the 6.8 million tickets which have been put up on the market.
In. a press name after the assembly, Christophe Dubi, the IOC’s govt director, praised Paris 2024 leaders for what he referred to as “transparency” and “cooperation” within the investigation, including that Paris 2024 “took the proper angle” in the way it has dealt with the raid.
“We have now all causes to be assured,” Dubi mentioned, referring each to the French investigation and the IOC’s perception in Paris 2024′s capacity to host the Video games.
The raid comes lower than a month after Brigitte Henriques, the previous president of France’s Nationwide Olympic Committee, which organizes the French Olympic crew, introduced her sudden resignation and requested for an inner audit following public tensions with different committee leaders.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who was an outspoken proponent of internet hosting the Video games, has staked political capital on their success, asserting bold tasks within the run-up, together with a plan to scrub the Seine and the Marne rivers, to make them swimmable.
Monetary scandals have rocked the Olympics lately, together with bribery expenses tied to the 2020 Tokyo Video games sponsorships.
The Paris Olympic Video games are scheduled to happen July 26 to Aug. 11 subsequent yr.
Les Carpenter contributed to this report.
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