The planets are aligning. France 2023 and Paris 2024 are still looking forward, counting the days. D – 71 for the Rugby World Cup, D – 392 for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The roadmap, and deadlines, of the two organizing committees reveal few common points. But this weekend, both events focus on the same subject: heritage. A sign of the times, it is conjugated to the present.
The occasion: the annual general assembly of Territoires d'objets sportives (TES), the association of host cities of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France and the 2024 Paris Games. It began Thursday June 29 at Nice. It continues this Friday, in the same city, involved like a handful of others by the two planetary meetings.
The inheritance, then. A common thread of the meeting, one of the priorities of the “ new norm » major sporting events, to use an expression used by the IOC since the Rio 2016 Games. Just yesterday, it came afterwards, once the curtain had fallen. Today, it is built even before the match or the opening ceremony.
Paris 2024, first. At the initiative of TES, a workshop was organized on Thursday June 29 at the Allianz Arena in Nice. Around the table, representatives of the host cities of the Games, the IOC, the CNOSF and Paris 2024. On the menu of discussions, the heritage of the Olympic brands. In other words, the way in which the cities directly affected by the Olympic and Paralympic competitions will be able to keep the memory of the event alive in the years and decades to come.
Antoine Chinès, the general delegate of TES, explains it: “ The palette is very broad, since it includes rings, Paralympic agitos, commemorative plaques, symbols, but also place names serving a narrative. Inheritance can be material or immaterial. It can be an exhibition, the marking of a route used for a competition, a work of art, but also a name. » The town of Châteauroux, where the shooting events will take place, could for example rename its national training and competition complex to give it the Olympic label.
“All cities are interested, primarily Paris and the municipalities concerned in Seine-Saint-Denis, continues Antoine Chinès. The possibilities of retaining the presence of the event in memory are numerous, but they are regulated. It is, for example, strictly prohibited to attach a commercial or advertising dimension to this heritage.. The request must make sense, both for the community and for the IOC, decision-maker and owner of its brands.."
Clearly, the cities propose, the IOC and the IPC dispose. It will be up to TES to draft a standard form for the host cities, during the second half of the year, then to set up a platform where the proposals will be collected. The IOC heritage department will then study the files on a case-by-case basis, before giving its response.
France 2023, now. The World Cup is fast approaching. For the ten host cities of the tournament, the legacy is already concrete. It is even integrated into the budget.
Under an agreement concluded with the organizing committee, 30% of the expected profits from the competition will go to the communities, half of which to the cities which hosted the meetings, all members of TES (the rest – 70% – will be paid to the rugby family). According to estimates, a jackpot of up to 7 million euros could go to the host cities, or 700.000 euros for each of them.
New: part of the money can be paid in advance. In short, a legacy before its time. Eight of the ten host cities of the 2023 World Cup will now receive part of their share of the expected profits, i.e. a first payment of 224.000 euros.
The money must be used to finance renovation projects for rugby fields and equipment. Essentially, the work has begun. Objective: an inauguration at the start of the school year, in September or October, during the 2023 World Cup. Heritage at the heart of the action, in full news.
Less directly concerned, and above all less visible, the cities hosting the base camp of a team or a training site are not forgotten. At the initiative of TES, an envelope of one million euros was allocated to them to bring their equipment – grounds, room and weight training equipment – up to event standards and meet the expectations of the equipment. Here too, a form of heritage for amateur practice.
