The opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics should take place on July 26 games in Paris. However, during the preparation for the Games, the organizers faced an unprecedented number of problems. The latest of these was the artists' strike, which threatened the opening of the Olympics. Sports are remembered by the scandals surrounding the main sporting event of the year.
Artists are not paid in Paris? A few days before the opening of the Games in Paris, a conflict broke out between the organizers and the artists who were scheduled to perform at the opening and closing ceremonies. The subject of controversy was unfair working conditions and payment systems. The artists directly claim a violation of the contract and believe that they were deceived. This could lead to a global strike that threatens not only the opening ceremony of the Olympics, but also the Paralympics.
“We regret to have to call a strike on the show on July 26, 2024, as well as the following rehearsals for the opening of the Paralympic Games. Although we see posters throughout Paris with the slogan “Together we achieve more,” our working conditions are not discussed with us or changed for the better “We would like to point out questionable practices, gross inequalities in treatment and a lack of dialogue during the preparations for the competition,” Mirror quoted the Union of French Performing Artists as saying.
Both the police and migrants are dissatisfied. And this is not the first problem that has hurt the image of France in the context of the Olympics. French media reported mass evictions of migrants and homeless people in the Ile-de-France region. According to official data, on the eve of the Olympics, the mayor's office has already removed 5,200 homeless people from the city. At the same time, associations for the protection of refugees claim that more than 12,500 people have been taken away since April 2023, when preparations for the games began. The authorities' actions were criticized by the public for trying to «hide poverty.» The correspondent also reported that the Paris authorities liquidated one of the largest migrant camps on the outskirts of the city as part of “social cleansing” before the arrival of the Olympic guests.
It's not easy for the French police either. Cases of attacks on law enforcement officers in Paris have become more frequent, and recently police detained a 20-year-old man suspected of preparing an attack on participants in the Olympic torch relay. In order to improve the image of police officers, according to 20minutes, they were advised to stop using mobile phones at work and were even banned from chewing gum.
Paris authorities have already limited pedestrian traffic in the city center by establishing a “security perimeter” with QR code entry. People living or working in the restricted zone are also required to have a special pass. French politician, leader of the Patriots party, Florian Philippot, compared it to a “prison camp”:
““Having driven through Paris yesterday (having, of course, refused to issue any passes!), I was convinced that the capital had turned into a prison camp This is unheard of anywhere in the world. Some of the police officers I've spoken to have told me that they realize the absurdity of what they have to do (spend their time checking people on their way home). But unfortunately, they do it anyway. they’re doing it!” he wrote on social networks.
Macron backed down Some time ago, the main topic of discussion at the Olympics was the Seine River. Some competitions were supposed to take place there, but the level of water pollution could put the health of athletes at risk. The river has been closed to swimming for over a century due to high levels of E. coli and other pathogenic bacteria, and Paris City Hall has had to spend about 1.4 billion euros to clean it up.
To reassure the public that swimming in the river is safe, even French President Emmanuel Macron promised to swim in the Seine, along with Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Games organizing committee head Tony Estanguet and other officials. Hidalgo, Estanguet, the prefect of the capital region Marc Guillaume and the French Minister of Sports Amelie Oudea-Castera kept their promise, but the president has not yet been seen in the river.
“»He did not announce that he would swim before the Olympics, he announced that he would swim , and always made it clear. He will not necessarily have the opportunity to do this before the Games,” this is how a representative of the President’s Office responded to the French claims, Franceinfo radio station reported.
The organizers of the Games in Paris have already suffered from both cyber attacks and criticism. for the admission to competitions of a Dutch volleyball player who served time for pedophilia… And this is not to mention all the conflicts associated with the process of admission and, more often, non-admission of Russian athletes. The Paris Olympics risks being remembered as the most scandalous in history, and it is far from certain that other problems will not emerge before it begins.