French police raided the headquarters of the organizers for the 2024 Paris Olympics Tuesday as a part of two preliminary investigations into possible corruption.
Investigators arrived unannounced at the headquarters of the Paris Olympics organizing committee, the organization tasked with building projects for the 2024 games, BBC News reported. The surprise raid comes as allegations of favoritism and misuse of public money in procuring construction contracts have led to two investigations over possible corruption, the outlet stated.
🚨 BREAKING: The headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics are being searched by French financial police this morning, according to an internal email seen by POLITICO.
Developing story: https://t.co/rPJaL4nNO0
— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) June 20, 2023
“We are aware that there has been a search by police of the Paris 2024 headquarters today,” an IOC spokesperson stated of the raid, according to Reuters. “We have been informed by Paris 2024 that they are cooperating fully with the authorities in this matter.” (RELATED: Olympic Committee Recommends ‘Open’ Category To Encourage Trans Participation In Sports)
The French financial prosecutor (PNF), the body responsible for tracking down financial crime in the country, confirmed to the BBC that raids were being executed across several locations involving two organizations. The organizing committee stated the raids were being carried out by “teams from the criminal police and the public prosecutor” who are “collecting documents,” according to an internal email shared with Politico.
The raids have cast yet another shadow over the upcoming games after the abrupt resignation of Brigitte Henriques, the president of the French National Olympic Committee, in May. Henriques, a former soccer player on the French national team, was distinguished as the country’s first female Olympic president before “intense infighting” forced her to step down from the position, ESPN reported.