The Paris 2024 Olympic Games were a sporting success, to put it mildly. But they were also an economic success. This Wednesday, as we announced, the final budget of the organizing committee was adopted, and it resulted in a surplus of 26.8 million euros. “Maintaining the budget for an event as incredibly complex as the Games was a real challenge,” said Fabrice Lacroix, the financial director of Paris 2024, who was delighted to have succeeded by “taking some risks, in order to give value to the project.
These few million euros will now be able to be reinvested. A fund will thus be created, made up of 60% of the surplus (i.e. 16.08 million euros), without us knowing for the moment who will manage it. Tony Estanguet specified that the founding members would meet in January to discuss the modalities. The National Sports Agency could be an option, which does not entirely please the local communities, who wish to keep control.
The resigning Minister of Sports Gil Avérous has, however, already mentioned the contours of this fund, hoping that it can be managed “collectively, with a distribution both for the communities which hosted the Games and also for the national territory. » Believing that we should not disperse ourselves and have “strong areas of intervention”, he cited one in particular: the development of para-sport.
“The number of licensees within the French Handisport Federation has seen growth of between 20 and 25%, which is enormous,” he underlined. We will have needs for the adaptation of premises, equipment, and for specific supervision. This notion of heritage that everyone expects is beginning, thanks to the good management of Paris 2024, to truly take shape and we will be able to measure its effects on our territory in the long term. »
