French investigators have reportedly opened an investigation into the pay of Tony Estanguet, the head of the 2024 Paris Olympic organizing committee.
A source close to the case told news outlet AFP that the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF), which specializes in financial crimes, began its investigation into how Estanguet receives his pay last week, less than six months before the capital plays host to the flagship event.
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According to figures provided by the organizing committee in 2018, Estanguet will receive €270,000 ($290,200) per year pre-tax, with possible bonuses of up to 20%.
The report comes after a report last October by investigative newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné alleged that Estanguet uses his own company to bill the organizing committee monthly instead of drawing a salary to avoid a salary cap imposed on charities with the same status as the organizing committee.
Responding to the report, the organizing committee expressed its surprise adding: “We wish to remind people that the organizing committee president’s remuneration is subject to a strict framework.
“The remuneration of the president of the organizing committee is very strictly regulated.”
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By GlobalDataPierre Rabadan, Paris deputy mayor for sport, told Reuters: “I’m not worried, we’ve known this figure from the beginning and nothing was hidden.
“If verifications need to be made, let’s have them made but I’m bothered by the fact that it casts a doubt on the Games’ organization while we’ve done everything to be transparent, notably by setting up an ethics committee.”
The investigation comes as the organizing committee makes its final preparations for staging the summer games.
The upcoming Olympic Games has been embroiled in allegations of corruption since 2021, with authorities raiding the Paris 2024 headquarters last June and again in October as part of an investigation into possible misuse of public funds and favoritism in awarding lucrative construction and services contracts to firms.
The cases revolve around sports management or event companies set up by those who would have been senior staff at the Games before starting work for the Paris 2024 organizing committee.
At the time, two reports by the French Anti-Corruption Agency highlighted “risks” of lack of probity and “conflicts of interest.” It also described Estanguet’s company as an “atypical structure” that is “not without difficulties.”
Previous editions of the Olympic Games have also been marred by corruption allegations including the 2016 edition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which led to the conviction of the former head of the Olympic Games in Brazil and the city’s governor.
The last Tokyo 2020 Games has also seen several individuals being charged with bribing members of the Tokyo Olympic Committee to secure contracts.
