Just over a year before the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics, French investigators have raided the headquarters of the organising committee in Paris – on suspicion of corruption.

The headquarters of the organising committee of the 2024 Summer Olympics as well as the premises of the company Solideo were searched this Tuesday by investigative teams of the French public prosecutor’s office responsible for financial matters.

The Solideo company is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the competition facilities for the major sporting event, which will be held in the French capital from 26 July to 11 August 2024.

The organising committee said it was cooperating fully with investigators to facilitate their enquiries. The French radio station France Télévisions reports that two investigations have been opened by the competent public prosecutor’s office. One has been pending since 2017 and is concerned with unfair advantage, misappropriation of public money as well as favouritism and aiding and abetting favouritism. Accordingly, the second case is also being investigated on suspicion of unfair advantage taking as well as favouring and aiding and abetting favouritism.

As early as spring 2021, the state agency responsible for fighting corruption, the AFA, reported, among other things, possible “conflicts of interest”.

The latest searches are not the only legal stone in the shoe of the Olympic organisers. Ten workers who had worked without papers on the construction sites of the 2024 Olympics have sued several large companies (Vinci, Eiffage, Spie Batignolles and GCC) before the labour court in Bobigny to obtain “recognition” of their work and payment of outstanding wages.

A year ago, the Bobigny prosecutor’s office had opened a preliminary investigation into “disguised work” and “employment of undocumented foreigners in an organised manner” after inspections identified several irregular workers at an Olympic construction site.