French law enforcement authorities searched Paris 2024 headquarters Tuesday as part of two separate investigations into corruption within the organizing committee of next summer’s Olympic Games.
An official with the financial prosecutor’s office in France confirmed to USA TODAY Sports that searches were underway at multiple locations Tuesday morning, including Paris 2024 headquarters. The searches are part of preliminary investigations into allegations of favoritism and conflicts of interest leading up to the Game.
The first probe, according to the official, pertains to the alleged embezzlement of public funds, as well and favoritism and concealment of favoritism regarding contracts that were awarded by Paris orgnizers. That investigation began in 2017, the same year that the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2024 Summer Olympics to Paris.
The second probe was opened last year following an audit by France’s anti-corruption agency. In addition to Paris 2024, it is also targeting Solideo, the company in charge of facilities for the Games. Solideo’s offices were also searched Tuesday, the official confirmed.
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A Paris 2024 spokesperson said in a brief statement that the organizing committee is “cooperating fully with the investigators to facilitate their investigations.”
The searches came as the IOC’s executive board was set to open two days of meetings in Lausanne, Switzerland. The IOC, and its president Thomas Bach, had previously praised Paris 2024 for its progress in preparing for the Games.
An IOC spokesperson did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
With Tuesday’s news, Paris joins the previous two Summer Olympics − hosted by Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021 − in being implicated in a corruption probe or scandal. There were allegations of vote-buying ahead of the 2016 Games, with a Brazilian politician later saying he paid about $2 million for several IOC members to cast votes in favor of holding the Olympics in Rio. The Tokyo Olympics, meanwhile, have been mired in corruption allegations surrounding top sponsors, including Japanese marketing giant Dentsu.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.
