International Olympic Committee says it’s confident of Paris 2024 Games success despite riots
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The Olympic and Paralympic mascots standing next to a countdown clock showing 500 days left until the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on March 14, 2023.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BERLIN – International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials expressed regret on Tuesday at the recent turmoil in France but said they were confident the country would hold a successful and welcoming Games in 2024.
“We have learnt with regret about the recent incidents in France,” an IOC spokesman said, emphasising that the violence had nothing to do with the Games.
The fatal shooting by a police officer of Nahel M
Rioters torched cars, looted stores and targeted town halls, state-owned schools and other properties. Paris suburbs and Marseille in the south have been flashpoints but the situation appears to have calmed this week
Olympic venues have not been directly affected by the riots, although the facade of a Paris Olympics aquatic training centre was damaged during the violence.
“We have full confidence in the organising committee and the French authorities to deliver successful Olympic and Paralympic Games and in the hospitality of the French people to welcome the world to these Games,” the IOC spokesman said.
Paris will host the Games from July 26 to Aug 11, 2024. Reuters
