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After months of speculation about how many people would be allowed to attend the opening ceremony, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced last week that “around 300,000” ticket-holding fans would attend.
That’s half of the 600,000 he’s recommended for 2022 and even fewer than recent estimates of 400-500,000, underscoring the complexity of securing an event on the 4-mile stretch of river.
“I know that we have the best security forces in the world and we will succeed in proving not only that we can win medals (at the Olympics) but that we can host the world without any problems,” Mr Darmanin told France 2 channel.
Mr Darmanin added that the 300,000 figure did not include other “people who live along the Seine and are able to rent them for parties”, referring to the hundreds of buildings overlooking the famous waterway.
The idea of a spectacular open-air parade of hundreds of ships sent many in France’s security services into a cold sweat due to the difficulty of crowd control and the risk of a terrorist attack.
Terror Alert
Organizers and the Paris mayor’s office initially expected up to 2 million people to attend. But a senior French security source recently told AFP that organizers had “eyes bigger than their stomachs” in planning the opening and that their initial crowd estimates were “too high”.
France was on maximum alert for terror attacks after an Islamist suspect stormed a school in northern France and stabbed a teacher to death in October.
In another setback for Parisians, they have just been told not to order parcel delivery services this summer.
The transport ministry said Paris residents were told this week to order packages “if possible” in advance for delivery before July 24, after September 8 or between the two Olympic Games, between August 12 and 27. “Da.”
If deliveries should still be made during this period, the government is asking people to “prioritize deliveries at times and days with less traffic”, “by bicycle or walking” or at pick-up points outside a safe perimeter.
A tumultuous week
Paris Olympics chief organizer Toni Estangue confirmed on Tuesday that French investigators had launched a legal probe into his salary, capping a tumultuous week for the Games.
Estanguet reportedly used his company to bill the organizing committee monthly instead of receiving a salary, and the investigation is expected to look into the way Mr. Estanguet was paid as chairman of the organizing committee.
Mr. Estanguet’s annual salary before taxes and bonuses is €270,000.
His basic salary is lower than that of Sebastian Coe, who served as chief organizer for London 2012, when he received about 360,000 pounds (421,000 euros) that year, according to the organizing committee’s annual report. income.
A spokesman for the commission said it was “surprised” by the findings and denied that Mr Estengate was paid as an external consultant to avoid the charity’s salary cap.
independent expert
In a statement, the company said his pay “was determined independently in the absence of the president and is consistent with the recommendations of a compensation committee composed of independent experts.”
The company added that it could pay Estangate whatever it liked because “the profitable nature of its business is linked to its commercial income (partnerships, ticketing and TV rights) and has been confirmed by tax rulings”.
Estenguet said he “does not determine his salary or its structure.”
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