Paris 2024 Olympic Games: Tony Estanguet targeted by an investigation into his remuneration at the head of the organizing committee

Le président du comité d'organisation des Jeux Olympiques et Paralympiques (Cojop) de Paris, Tony Estanguet, est visé par une enquête ouverte récemment par le parquet national financier. JEAN MICHEL MART

The president of the organizing committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop) in Paris, Tony Estanguet, is the target of an investigation recently opened by the national financial prosecutor's office.

The president of the organizing committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop) in Paris, Tony Estanguet, is the target of an investigation recently opened by the national financial prosecutor's office and relating to the conditions of his remuneration, AFP learned on Tuesday from a source close to the matter.

270,000 euros gross

The investigation was entrusted to the Parisian judicial police "last week", said this source. Tony Estanguet received annual remuneration of 270,000 euros gross until 2020, according to figures communicated by Cojop in 2018.

But as Cojop is a 1901 law type association, the remuneration of its directors is capped by law at significantly lower levels.

"The organizing committee discovered this information with astonishment", reacted the Cojo, assuring that "the remuneration of the President of the Organizing Committee was very strictly regulated".

According to a recent article in Le Canard chainé, the former sportsman would have created a company which invoices "non-commercial services" at Cojop, which he directs.

Which questions the control of "the reality and quality of services" carried out by the Estanguet company, continued the newspaper in October.

The remuneration of Tony Estanguet "was decided and validated by the first Board of Directors of the organizing committee on March 2, 2018 , who ruled in his absence, in a sovereign and independent manner", specifies the Cojop.

The amount of remuneration was decided on the proposal of a "compensation committee" composed "independent experts responsible for ensuring the relevance of our remuneration policy", adds Cojop. "Its payment terms were validated by the general economic and financial controller, after consultation with URSSAF", further specifies Cojop .

The organization of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is already the subject of three other financial investigations

"The amount of invoices inherent to this remuneration is subject to an annual audit" by a "internal audit unit independent of the executive of the organizing committee and an examination by the Committee of Remuneration", says the body, specifying that this "approach does not correspond to any legal obligation but responds to a desire to transparency"

At the start of 2021, two reports from the French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA) on the organization of the Olympic Games (July 26-August 11) noted "risks of breaches of probity" and "conflicts of interest". In one of these reports, the AFA mentioned the case of Tony Estanguet's company, pointing out an atypical set-up within the framework of ;#39;an association under the 1901 law", which "is not without posing difficulties"< /em>, recalls the Chained Duck.