Plans for the ambitious Paris 2024 opening ceremony could be scaled back further over safety concerns, despite Olympics organizers almost halving planned attendance for the event.
Organizers had initially suggested that around 600,000 spectators could attend the opening ceremony when plans were initially unveiled in 2021.
The French government has announced that the total number has been reduced to 326,000.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 104,000 spectators would have tickets on the lower banks of the Seine, and another 222,000 would watch free from the upper banks.
Free tickets will be by invitation only, rather than being available to the public through open registration.
Paris 2024 organizers may further scale back plans for its ambitious opening ceremony
The organizers have already reduced the number of expected spectators by almost half, to 326,000.
IOC official Christophe Dubi admitted that organizers will have to adapt to the level of risk
Olympics chief executive Christophe Dubi admitted the ambitious opening ceremony could still be scaled back further as organizers consider security risks.
The International Olympic Committee official stressed that “safety and security” was the central priority, after the organization’s Coordination Commission made its final visit to Paris to inspect plans before the Games.
“You can adapt based on the level of risk,” Dubi said. News from heaven.
«Depending on the nature of the threat, of course, this can be reduced further if necessary.
“I was addressing an underlying question, which is: ‘can we go back to another location, say, a stadium somewhere?’
‘You cannot plan a Plan B. It is too big, too sophisticated, too artistically complex to contemplate a Plan B anywhere else.
“Plan B is to reduce, adjust, but it’s that location.”
Spectators will have to go through a security screening process for the Opening Ceremony, which will continue to have record attendance and will be the first to be held outside of a stadium.
Paris to hold first Olympic opening ceremony outside a stadium
Athletes will travel a six-kilometer route in around 170 boats, passing emblematic places such as the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde.
The route will end near the Eiffel Tower, and the Trocadero gardens will host the end of the ceremony.
About 80 giant screens are expected to broadcast the ceremony in the city.
Since the ceremony will focus on the city centre, it is expected that a massive security operation will be set up for the show.
Invitations for free tickets are expected to be sent to cities and regions hosting Olympic events through a quota system, according to the Associated Press, as well as to local and other sports federations chosen by organizers.
As a result, tourists will not be able to get tickets to the Opening Ceremony.
“To manage the movement of crowds, we can’t tell everyone to come,” Darmanin said.
“For security reasons that everyone understands, particularly the terrorist threat of recent weeks, we are obliged to make it free but contained.”
The Olympic Games will begin in the French capital on July 26 and will continue until August 11
Darmanin said 200,000 people will also be able to watch from inside apartments or buildings overlooking the river, as well as 50,000 from fan zones.
Some 30,000 police officers are expected to be deployed each day during the Olympic Games.
Paris was the target of coordinated terrorist attacks by Islamic State militants in 2015, and the attacks left 130 dead and 350 injured.
France raised its security alert to its highest level in October after a teacher was stabbed to death in a knife attack.
The opening ceremony will take place on July 26 and the competition will run until August 11. This will be followed by the Paralympic Games from August 28 to September 8.