There is no longer room for doubt: French political leaders want Paris to bid for the 2024 Summer Games. And the cautious wait-and-see attitude of the mayor of the capital, Anne Hidalgo, will change nothing. The proof was given spectacularly over the last three days, during the meeting in Paris of the Foundation Board of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). A working meeting, the first organized in France since the creation of the Agency, which turned into an operation to seduce the political authorities towards the ten IOC members present.
In itself, the event probably did not justify such a deployment of forces. The meeting of the WADA Foundation Council was not particularly decisive for the future of the fight against doping. But the French have now grasped the full importance of the concept of “sports diplomacy”. Around ten members of the IOC gathered in the capital, the opportunity was so good to roll out the red carpet and pull out all the stops.
It all starts on Friday November 14, the day before the opening of the work, with a press conference by Patrick Kanner, Minister of the City, Youth and Sports, Thierry Braillard, Secretary of State for Sports, and Craig Reedie, the President of WADA and, importantly, member of the IOC Executive Board. Sir Craig Reedie who, another “detail”, led the visits of the IOC Evaluation Commission for the 2020 Summer Games. Later in the evening, the small WADA troop will have the honors of a reception where the bench and the back bench of French sport jostle. A way for France to show the IOC that the mobilization around a possible candidacy brings together political forces and the sports movement.
On Saturday, the IOC members were received for lunch by Manuel Valls in Matignon. A lunch followed by a tête-à-tête between the Prime Minister and Craig Reedie, an interview that the Scot would have described as “warm and fruitful”. In the evening, the WADA delegation heads to the Stade de France to attend, in the presidential stand, the test match of the French rugby team against Australia. Among the guests, the Swiss Gian Franco Kasper and Patricl Baumann, the German Claudia Bokel, the Canadian Dick Pound and, of course, the French Tony Estanguet, all future voters when it will be a question for the IOC to choose the city- host of the 2024 Games.
Sunday morning, opening of the work of the WADA Foundation Council. Here too, France struck hard by hosting the meeting in the prestigious setting of the Hôtel de Lassay, the official residence of the President of the National Assembly. Its tenant, Claude Bartolone, opens the session. He suggests: “I hope that you and your sports delegations will return to Paris very quickly, and why not from 2024.” In the audience, many thought they saw a sign of approval appear on the faces of the delegates of the AMA… According to a person familiar with the matter, the members of the Agency were “full of praise” for the atmosphere of the visit, its reception and its organization.
Beyond decorum and protocol, the Paris meeting was an opportunity for WADA to make great strides on several issues:
– Money first. The World Anti-Doping Agency left Paris with the promise of an envelope of 20 million dollars, around 16 million euros, to devote to research. In addition to the $10 million paid by the IOC, no less than 13 countries have pledged donations totaling $11,5 million. France is one of them, with a check for 150.000 euros. A very significant step forward, since WADA's research budget amounted to $5,4 million for the year 2014. Please note: this abundantly funded envelope will be managed by Valérie Fourneyron, the former French Minister of Sports, president of the Committee. health-medicine-research from January 1, 2015.
– Money, always. It was decided in Paris to increase WADA's budget by 3%. The first budget increase since 2010, proof of the importance of strengthening the fight on a global level and completing the Agency's various missions.
– The texts, then. The WADA Foundation Board approved the 2015-2019 strategic plan. Its priorities: assistance with compliance with the world anti-doping code, strengthening education and prevention of athletes, development of the new ADAMS platform for locating athletes, increased cooperation between Europe and WADA in order to help countries and organizations comply with the requirements of the fight. Finally, it was decided by the members of the Council to take advocacy action before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), considered too slow, costly and opaque on doping issues.
