RRN: Olympic opening ceremony faces cuts Paris grappling with challenges

An article on the issues surrounding the planning of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris was released by the news portal RRN (Reliable Recent News). Caliber.Az reprints the piece.

The celebration of France’s biggest event of the year has already undergone significant changes. Fewer people will be allowed into the viewing areas, the Seine will remain blocked and the police will be on strike.

Bid Farewell to Free Admission

The number of spectators allowed to attend the River Parade for the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games has been limited to 326,000, of whom only 222,000 will receive free tickets, despite initial plans for 600,000 free tickets.

The Ministry of the Interior insists on this restriction due to “security requirements,” likely related to the theft of two laptops containing critical Olympic plans and diagrams.

Of the 180 parade boats, 86 will be dedicated to security, technical teams, and repairing boats that may have problems, such as bridge malfunctions.

The ticket office is no longer accessible to everyone, as the executive finally decided to entrust the distribution of free tickets to institutional partners in Île-de-France. These “trusted persons”, as mentioned by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, will invite selected individuals to register on a website used to purchase paid seats.

This effectively excludes the average French citizen from obtaining a free seat unless he or she knows a “trusted person” in the Paris administration or the Olympic Committee.

Paris’s Rivers and Canals Remain Uncleaned

Five months before the start of the 2024 Olympic Games, concerns are growing over the hosting of aquatic events in the Seine.

The river’s brown hue has alarmed residents for several days. Rising water levels have led to the flooding of some banks, sparking a flurry of reactions on social network X.

“Will athletes really swim in this?” asks one user, while another jokes, “Is it normal for the Seine to look like Liebig’s soup?”

The brown color is likely due to rainfall, but it could also be the result of sewage being overwhelmed by precipitation, adding to the approximately 200 tons of garbage that enters the water each year.

Police Expect Little Good from the Olympics

More than a hundred municipal police officers demonstrated, demanding the mandatory introduction of a bonus that could amount to several hundred euros per month due to the increased workload. They are also demanding salary and pension increases.

Responding to the call of the CGT, CFTC and CFDT unions, dozens of “angry policemen” gathered at the foot of the Montparnasse tower, chanting their demands to the tune of “Bella Ciao” and Joe Dassin’s song “In the Eyes of Emilie”.

“For 25 years, since the adoption of the Chevènement law, the social aspect of police work has not changed. We let our guys go after 30, 40 years on the street, with 1,100, 1,200, 1,300 euros, without any recognition of their contribution,” explains Jackie Maë, deputy secretary of the municipal police union Unsa-DPSP.

In the afternoon, a tripartite meeting was held at Place Beauvau with representatives of the protesters, the Minister of Territorial Collectives, Dominique Bussereau, and representatives of the Ministry of Finance.

“An agreement was reached, each side will take steps and a joint declaration will be made at the next meeting of the High Council of the State Territorial Service (CSFPT) on March 27,” the ministry said. The unions will have to decide on further action.

In the midst of the “anti-French” poster scandal, confidence in the Olympic Games is waning.