With only two years left for Paris Olympics, security and cost overrun fears loom large

Only two years are left for the Paris Olympics to kick off, but there are already widespread concerns over security, financial, venue and staffing concerns. The top government officials are particularly concerned about the security situation ever since the chaotic scenes unfolded at the Stade de France during the Champions League final.

The aftermath of the Liverpool and Real Madrid threw up some chaotic scenes which, according to a French government report last month, highlighted multiple failures in the management of the crowd, inadequate communications between public transport operators and police, and a lack of suitable routes to the ground.

The Guardian, quoting a report from French newspaper Le Monde, has reported that the unique security challenge of the opening Olympics ceremony is already giving organisers “cold sweats”.

A former police chief said the security problems were “far from resolved”, describing it as “a dangerous moment”.

According to Le Journal du Dimanche, another French newspaper, security provisions for the ceremony include police divers, mine clearance teams, special forces on standby and “a particular effort around control of the city’s airspace to preclude drone attacks”.

A 1976 Olympic gold medallist and a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1996, Guy Drut, criticised the ceremony as unnecessarily risky.

“The idea is great…But in today’s climate, there are just too many uncertainties. Why isn’t there a plan B?” he told the newspaper.

“We could have the same ceremony, watched by more people, on the Champ de Mars [near the Eiffel Tower]. That would be easier to keep safe.”

However, French interior minister Gerald Darmanin has asserted that “lessons have been learned” from the fiasco and insisted that Olympic crowd management issues are “very different from those of a football match.”

Security is not the only reason the organisers are having nightmares about. Russia’s war in Ukraine has led to shortages of essential building supplies for the Olympic village while spiralling inflation threatens to derail the event’s €8bn budget – already nearly €2bn more than the 2015 bid estimate of €6.2bn, reports The Guardian.

According to the report, a confidential audit note circulated last week and seen by the public broadcaster France Info warned of a significant risk for budget overruns, saying “strong, difficult and bold decisions” would need to be taken this autumn to rein in the cost of the Games.

(With inputs from agencies)

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