Paris is a step closer to a bid for the 2024 Olympic Games after city lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to back a campaign. A majority of the 163 lawmakers voted in favour of a bid with only a few Greens and left wing councillors voting against it. If the bid goes ahead Paris will go up against Boston, Rome and Hamburg, if the German city gives its support in a referendum.

Advertising Read more

"We'll consult the French people" - Anne Hidalgo, Paris mayor

"I think 2016 is a good time to consult the people, because 2016 is one year before the International Olympic Committee’s decision. You know that a bid must have the support of the population; you have to run events, talk, get the French people involved, not just Parisians or people from the region. They must also see the benefits, the hope, that getting behind this collective effort would have. So, I would see this consultation taking place in 2016. We’ll discuss it together with everyone working on the bid and then we’ll also see the ways and means to do it. Nothing is set in stone yet; we’ll work together on it."

"Parisians need referendum to decide on Olympics" - David Belliard, Paris councillor, Europe Ecology – The Greens

"We have two main criticisms. The first one is that the International Olympic Committee will not pay taxes for the Olympic Games. It will earn a lot of money and it will not pay taxes. The second criticism is that we want people in Paris and in the Ile-de-France region to have a referendum. We think that this kind of event, it’s very important and will have a lot of consequences on finances, the way of life. We want that people have the opportunity to say whether they want Olympic Games or not."

"Can contain the budget for Paris 2024 Olympics" - Jean-Francois Martins, assistant to the mayor of Paris in charge of sports and tourism

"One of our major assets is that we already have a lot of international sports infrastructure in Paris: Paris Bercy, Stade de France, Roland Garros. So we already have all the major venues for sports events, the only thing we have to build in this case will be the swimming pool and the Olympic village. So we can contain our costs, maybe around something like six billion euros: three billion euros for the competition that will be covered by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and then the three remaining billion euros will be covered half by the private sector and half by the public sector."

Photo: Wikipedia/Public Domain

Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning Subscribe