AFP, Paris :
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday gathered senior ministers to tackle issues shadowing preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympics, almost two years to the day before the sporting extravaganza opens.
The Olympics should be a centrepiece of the freshly re-elected Macron’s second term, projecting an image of a France comfortable in its modern identity but open to the world.
But with two years to go to the opening ceremony on July 26, 2024, concerns are growing not just over costs but also security preparations.
France’s reputation as a reliable host of sporting events took a major battering over the chaos that marred the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Paris on May 28 that critics blamed on heavy- handed policing.
A particular subject of anxiety is the ambitious vision — in a typical Macron flourish — of an opening ceremony which will not take place as is customary in the athletics stadium but as a flotilla down the River Seine.
The meeting at the Elysee Palace included key ministers such as Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera as well as the head of the Paris organising committee, the three-time Olympic slalom canoe champion Tony Estanguet.
Macron will after the meeting also speak to International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, the Elysee said.
It is a chance for the ministers “to take note of where there are weaknesses”, said a French presidential official who asked not to be named.
“The idea is to be aware of the calendar and the next stages.”
Not invited were Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo and Paris region boss Valerie Pecresse, who were both unsuccessful candidates in the April presidential election and who on Friday issued a joint statement complaining about being excluded.
The Olympics organising committee COJO has a budget of four billion euros ($4.1 billion), as does its partner organisation SOLIDEO, which is charged with building the peripheral infrastructure.
But rising inflation means economies have to be made and so far, insufficientsponsors have been found to plug the gaps.
