“For the moment, we are not worried”: the IOC is confident about the 2030 Winter Olympics in France despite government censorship

Thomas Bach et le CIO ont pris la parole, abordant la situation politique en France. MAXPPP – Montage ML

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach is “not worried at the moment” about the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps, after the Barnier government's censorship on Tuesday, December 4, which has deepened the political crisis in the country.

“For the moment, we are not worried, because we have seen the support of a large majority in France for these 2030 Olympics”, Thomas Bach said, when asked about the consequences of this crisis during an online press conference on Wednesday.

The fall of the French government has cast uncertainty over the adoption of the 2025 budget, which includes part of the financial guarantee for the 2030 Olympic Games, particularly in the event of a complete cancellation.

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“As far as political development is concerned, we are in contact with the regions and the CNOSF (French Olympic Committee, editor's note). We will assess whether this will have an impact on the organisation of the Games”, added the IOC president.

“They have plenty of time to vote on the guarantees by 2030”

This summer, after the dissolution that had slowed down the process, the IOC had awarded the 2030 Olympic Games to the French Alps on condition that the financial guarantee be voted on by March 2025 by Parliament. Since Tuesday, the fate of the 2025 budget has been uncertain and put on hold pending the appointment of a new government.

“They have plenty of time to vote on the guarantees by 2030”, said a source close to the matter, not worried at all, this week. In line with the statements made by Christophe Dubi on Tuesday, Director of the Games for the IOC.

“Within the framework of the organization of the Games, you are in a seven-year period, sometimes more today, with inevitably at the local, regional, national level sometimes, changes of government. One thing that never appears on the agenda of what we cross off as priorities is the Olympic Games because it is a formidable platform”, he declared. There are regional elections planned in France in 2026, for example.

Still no boss of the 2030 Olympics

Nevertheless, the departure of Savoyard Michel Barnier, former co-president of the organizing committee of the 1992 Olympics in Albertville and closely interested in the matter, will not help speed up the process.

The designation of the future boss of the organizing committee of the 2030 Olympics has already been delayed. A meeting held last week at Matignon in the presence of Laurent Wauquiez, former president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, and Renaud Muselier, president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, failed to reach an agreement on a name.