PRESS RELEASE

11 January 2023

Report to Parliament

THE ORGANISATION OF THE PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC AND

PARALYMPIC GAMES

The First President of the Court of Accounts was heard on 10 January by the Senate's

Committee on Culture, Education and Communication and then by the National Assembly’s

Committee on Cultural Affairs and Education. These hearings follow the submission to

Parliament of a progress report on the preparation of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic

Games. This report is the result of a special mission carried out under Article 29 of the

Olympic Law of 26 March 2018 on the organisation of the Paris 2024 Games, under which

Parliament appointed the Court to audit legal entities receiving public funds for the

preparation of the Games.

A number of challenges for organisers

This international competition is a huge challenge that culminates during the events, but the

preparation of which is no less demanding, as there are many conditions for success. As the

world's largest sporting event, the Games are expected to be followed by thirteen million

spectators and four billion viewers according to the Games’ organising committee (the OCOPG).

However, the opportunities created and costs incurred by the Games are increasingly debated,

under pressure from public opinion. Beyond the requirement for transparency, ethics,

sustainable development and avoidance of extravagance, with which the International Olympic

Committee (IOC) and the organisers must now comply, it has become essential to include the

Games in policies that promote the regions in which they are held.

Exceptional mobilisation of the Court as a watchdog

Given the scope of the matter, the Court began its work in 2019. It chose to conduct a series of

audits in real time and throughout the preparation of the event in order to prepare this first

progress report. As a result of the first audits performed in 2019-2021 on the OCOPG and the

Olympic Delivery Authority (Solideo), an initial observation on the financial and budgetary

governance of the Games was sent to the Prime Minister in April 2021. In October 2021, an

inter-jurisdictional committee was established, involving the Court and Regional Chambers of

Accounts; it conducted ten inquiries into the Inter-ministerial Delegation (DIJOP), the OCOPG,

Solideo, two fundamental themes for the success of the Games - safety and transport - and five

regional authorities that play a major role in this preparation. In total, the Court made around

one hundred recommendations. Its findings, warnings and guidelines have already been largely

taken into account by the various stakeholders.

An initial progress report on the global approach makes fifteen recommendations

The report addresses several aspects of the Games’ organisation: the governance of the Games,

the management of the organisations in charge of their preparation (OCOPG and Solideo), the

delivery of sustainable works under the responsibility of Solideo, the organisation and delivery

of the Games, the budgetary performance of the OCOPG, and legacy issues. Although the Court

considers that the strategic planning phase has taken place successfully, it notes key points to

be carefully monitored that lead it to make fifteen recommendations, while the operational

phase begins and that, within eighteen months of their opening, the risks associated with the

delivery requirement of the Olympic sites and the event can only increase.

Many key points to be carefully monitored

Above all, the Court recommends strengthening governance and clarifying the operational and

financial responsibilities of partners. Furthermore, in order to ensure compliance with ethical

standards and public procurement law, the Court, which has not noted any significant

irregularities in the sample contracts examined, points out the obligation to ensure compliance

with the procedures put in place and the capability of internal control mechanisms to verify

their implementation.

In order to ensure the delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic works in good order, coordination

between the OCOPG and Solideo must be strengthened under the DIJOP’s authority, in order

to control the main risks: programme changes, adherence to schedules and budgets, and site

delivery procedures and schedules. To ensure the delivery of the Games, it is necessary to sign

the venue use agreements and outsourced delivery contracts as soon as possible, and to

establish site-by-site management plans to avoid any operational risk.

Regarding security and transport, the Court calls for extreme vigilance and urges the overall

security plan for the Games to be finalised in the 1st half of 2023, private security needs to be

firmed up, the resources for which are likely to be insufficient, and the employment of the

internal security forces to be planned. It also recommends finalising site-by-site transport plans

in the 1st half of 2023 and implementing them operationally, in particular managing flows and

user information.

Finally, while at this stage the Court has not found any major financial deviation from the bid

budgets, beyond factors external to the organisation of the Games related to the acceleration

of inflation for both the Olympic works and the OCOPG budget, uncertainties remain as to the

final balance of the OCOPG budget, both in revenue and expenditure. These uncertainties

require a very rigorous follow-up to ensure the implementation of the budget review adopted

last December, particularly of expenditure, especially since central government has given its

guarantee in the event of a final OCOPG deficit. The Court, which was unable to examine the

sustainability of this revised budget as part of this initial report, will prepare an additional report

on this subject during the 1st half of 2023. Finally, the Court stresses the need to establish a

cost of the Games which is as comprehensive as possible by already consolidating all expenses

incurred.

Work that will continue in the coming months and years

While this report required by the Law of 2018 is an important step in the organisation of the

Games, it does not exhaust the subject. The Court will thus have the opportunity to update its

findings and recommendations during the first half of 2023 and will carry out the

ex-post

audit

of the Games, as it does for each of the major international sporting events that France hosts.

Read the report

PRESS CONTACT:

Julie Poissier

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Head of Press Relations

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T

+33 (0)1 42 98 97 43

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+33 (0)6 87 36 52 21

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julie.poissier@ccomptes.fr

@Courdescomptes

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