What is the impact of the health crisis on Paris 2024’s budget? The breakout of the pandemic has been a hard blow for the Olympic Games 2020 and 2024. While Tokyo 2020 Olympics have been postponed for a year, it’s Paris 2024’s governance to do their accounts. And the least we can say is that they are not very reassuring. Right before exiting containment, Minister of Sport Roxana Marcineanu says that the budget devoted to the organization of the Olympics will be “undoubtedly” overran.
At the same time, the former swimmer interviewed about the impact of Covid-19 on the management of Paris 2024 tries to be reassuring. Without questioning the “notion of economy” closely bound to the organization, she is not overly worried “since only 5% of the facilities will have to be built”, knowing that “95% of them already exist” today. She adds that the budget will be “undoubtedly” overran but softens her statement by saying that “all this is actively controlled by all stakeholders, all collectivities”. The source of these worries? The more thank likely sudden rise of prices in the construction industry in France, caused by the health crisis, to add to the extended construction periods.
The Minister says there is no reason to worry. Everything is under control given that the “Cojo – the committee organizing the Olympic Games – does not manage the budget on their own but is subject to a stricter control between the State and all the collectivities who are stakeholders”. The one who comes from Bucharest says that worst-case scenarios are being considered and adds that “if there are adjustments to do, we will vote for them and act them together”. A battle plan to revise all together as an evidence, knowing that “today this model was already breaking from the classic model”.
Today, if we have a close look at the repartition of Paris 2024’s budget, we have two distinct elements: facilities for about €3 billion and the overall organization including tickets, sponsors and even contributions from the International Olympic Committee, for €3.8 bullion. To see if the Cojo revise the budget, we shall wait until late 2020 or early 2021.
