“For once, we have the impression that things are going a little faster than usual”, notes master Jean-Baptiste Soufron, Wednesday on franceinfo, after the searches at the headquarters of the organizing committee of the Paris Olympic Games 2024.
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“The awareness that is established around” of corruption in sport is “serious and new”, greeted Wednesday, June 21 on franceinfo master Jean-Baptiste Soufron lawyer for Anticor, a French anti-corruption association. Searches took place at the headquarters of the organizing committee (Cojo) of the 2024 Games, in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), and of Solideo, the public establishment in charge of site construction for the Games, reports Tuesday, June 20 the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office.
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According to information from France Télévisions, the searches are being carried out as part of two preliminary investigations opened by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office. One of them was opened in 2017 and entrusted to the OCLCIFF (Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Tax Offences) for “illegal taking of interests”, “embezzlement of public funds”, “favoritism and concealment of favouritism” concerning a contract awarded by the Cojo.
The Olympic Games, a subject “which calls for exemplary”
“For once, unlike other issues in sport, we have the impression that things are going a little faster than usual. Maybe also, because the Olympics are coming”, he explained. Maître Jean-Baptiste Soufron hopes that the investigation will accelerate.
“We must now ensure that any evidence that may later lead to possible convictions or on the contrary to demonstrate the innocence of the people who are implicated can be seized today and not in six months, in a year or in two years”.
Master Jean-Baptiste Soufronon franceinfo
According to him, “the Olympic Games, like sport in general”is a subject that “calls for exemplary”. In 2021, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, president of the Rio Olympics organizing committee, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for corruption. More recently, the chairman, deputy director general of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee, Yasuo Mori, was arrested by Japanese police in February.
“We must not forget that the Olympics benefit from a lot of tax exemptions which mean that they are today largely financed by public money. So, obviously, there is a specific duty on this subject” for this organizing committee of Paris 2024, considers master Jean-Baptiste Soufron.