Paris to commit €145m for 2024 Olympics bid

File Photo: Luke MacGregor

File Photo: Luke MacGregor

Published Sep 19, 2016

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Paris will commit 145 million euros for the renovation of stadiums and other infrastructure to ensure it hosts the 2024 Summer Olympics, city officials said on Monday.

A meeting of Paris' City Council next week will vote on a resolution formally giving Mayor Anne Hidalgo the power to sign guarantees required by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host the Games.

"It's a formal stage but at the same time extremely important," Jean-Francois Martins, Deputy Mayor of Paris responsible for Sport told AFP.

Paris is in competition with Budapest, Los Angeles and Rome to stage the sporting spectacular in 2024,

After the first dossier on the "concept" of the Games on February 17, a second will be prepared for October 7 on the legal side and financing.

Some 30 mn euros will be used to build a second stadium in Bercy, and 21 mn euros on an aquatic centre near the Stade de France in the north of the city.

Another 25 mn euros is planned for training sites, 12.5 mn for a swimming pool in Seine Saint-Denis and 6.5 mn on the Pierre de Coubertin Stadium.

Paris will also guarantee 4 mn euros to set aside for the future Olympic village.

The overall budget for construction work for the Games is estimated at 3 billion euros including 1.5 billion of public money.

"We have gambled on a simple concept, relying on existing sites," said Martins.

"This is the first time in the history of the Olympics that a city has decided that residents will have their say and be able to choose some of the amenities around the Olympic venues," added Martins.

The council will also vote on a guarantee to extend a line of the RER, an express train connecting Paris city centre and the surrounding suburbs.

The IOC will reveal the 2024 bid winner in Lima on September 13, 2017.

AFP

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