Andy Anson, chief executive of the British Olympic Association, said after French President Emmanuel Macron said stadiums could be converted if there was a security threat. has expressed “concerns” about the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Games on the Seine.
In his speech on Monday, President Macron said that instead of the team sailing down the Seine on a barge, the ceremony could be confined to the Trocadéro building, across the river from the Eiffel Tower, or could be moved to the Stade de France. “I can do it,” he said for the first time. .
Organizers in Paris broke with the tradition of opening at the main stadium and devised a ceremony unprecedented in Olympic history.
Current plans call for as many as 10,000 athletes to sail 6 kilometers (4 miles) up the Seine River on some 160 barges, before gathering at the Trocadero for a ceremony.
But with war currently raging in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, concerns have been raised that the ceremony could leave athletes vulnerable to attack.
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“Obviously I'm concerned,” Anson said in a Sky News interview broadcast on Wednesday, with 100 days left until the July 26 opening ceremony.
“This is one of the most important things we have to manage from a risk perspective.
“We would be naive if we didn't think about that. Our number one priority is to protect the safety of all of our athletes, our broader stakeholders, and our fans.”
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Anson added that the opening ceremony is “a high-risk environment and needs to be managed accordingly, and the French are very aware of that.”
President Macron said the opening ceremony would be held under tight security but that organizers had contingency plans in place.
“This opening ceremony… is a world first. We can do it and we will do it,” President Macron said in an interview with BFMTV and RMC.
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“We're going to have a very large security cordon in place and we're going to check everyone coming in and going out.”
But he added: “We have a Plan B and a Plan C and we are preparing them in parallel…We will analyze this in real time.”
Alternative plans include moving the ceremony to the Stade de France, north of Paris, the main venue for the track and field events that are the highlight of the Olympics.
