Inverting the sites of the preliminary phases of basketball and handball during the 2024 Olympic Games, by sending the first to Lille and repatriating the second to Paris, “seems the most reasonable” for the town hall of Paris.
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“We wanted to keep basketball in Paris”
but the use of the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in the first week
“seems to us the most reasonable”
, indicated Pierre Rabadan, the assistant to the Olympic Games of the mayor PS Anne Hidalgo, Wednesday during a visit to the Arena under construction in La Chapelle.
The Parc des Expositions at Porte de Versailles, on the southern side of the capital, was originally supposed to host the preliminary phase of the basketball tournament - the final phase being played at Bercy - but the Paris Olympics organizing committee (Cojo ) preferred to give it up at the end of March.
In question: a controversy launched by one of the executives of the France team Evan Fournier on a room with a "ceiling too low".
As La Chapelle Arena will host the Paris Basketball club after the Games, the town hall
“had suggested the idea that it was rather good that basketball (y) come in the first week”
, indicated Mr. Rabadan.
Fournier, who plays in the NBA championship under the jersey of the New York Knicks, also claimed it, but the new Arena will finally host badminton and rhythmic and sports gymnastics.
“But as we have done for several sports – in particular rugby, which was at Jean-Bouin and which is at the Stade de France because there is more space, it mobilizes fewer sites so it saves money. -, we think on a global scale and not only in our personal interest
, “said the former rugby player.
The exchange with Lille will allow Paris to
“recover”
handball in the first week, underlined the former player of the Stade Français.
French handball players
"are three-time Olympic champions and they don't mind playing in a cattle shed
," he added, ironically over criticism from NBA players.
The preliminary phase of boxing, scheduled for the Suzanne-Lenglen stadium at Roland-Garros, could also leave Paris due to technical constraints and find refuge in Seine-Saint-Denis.
"It's a possibility," acknowledged Mr. Rabadan, stressing that beyond "project adjustments"
, the organizers of the Olympic Games were trying to
"stick to our project: respect environmental and budgetary commitments
".
