French police have launched a search operation at the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics organizers, as part of two separate corruption investigations.
Allegations of favoritism and the misappropriation of public funds in the awarding of construction contracts are being probed by the authorities. The Paris 2024 organizing committee has confirmed its full cooperation with the investigators.
The unannounced visits by anti-corruption investigators took place on Tuesday at the Olympics organizing committee’s headquarters in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, as well as at the offices of Solideo, the public body responsible for the games’ construction projects.
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The PNF (Parquet National Financier), the judicial organization responsible for combating financial crime, has confirmed that searches are being conducted at multiple locations involving these two entities.
Scheduled to take place from July 26 to August 11, the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics have been marred by this recent development. This incident adds to the series of setbacks that have affected France’s Olympic movement and the sports sector in general in recent months.
In a surprising move, Brigitte Henriques, the President of France’s National Olympic Committee, resigned in May without citing a specific reason, though reports of internal conflicts within the organization had been circulating.
Additionally, prominent scandals led to the resignations of top officials from France’s football and rugby federations earlier this year.