2023-10-29 20:56:20
2023 Rugby World Cup in FrancedossierOne year before the Olympics, the success of the event on the security, organizational and commercial levels bodes well for Paris 2024.
The Springboks’ snatch victory on Saturday closed the 10th Rugby World Cup in history, the second organized on French soil. And if the XV of France did not lift the coveted trophy, the rest remains a success on all levels, the organizers are proud. Nine months before the Paris Olympic Games, the event, although smaller in scale, also served as a mock exam for the authorities, communities, transporters and other security services before the Olympics next summer. Safety, transport, fallout: Libé takes stock of the extra-sporting situation during this month and a half of competition.
Security
When drawing conclusions this Sunday, October 29 in Saint-Denis, where he carried out a review of the mobilized troops, Gérald Darmanin welcomed the good performance of the system in place. The Minister of the Interior applauded his “blues off the field”, who “won this security match”, with “meetings with very high stakes which took place in very good conditions” despite the “threat very strong terrorist” and the transition to the “emergency attack” vigilance level during the tournament. It must be said that the Minister of the Interior had pulled out all the stops: between “5,100” police officers and gendarmes deployed on match days and up to “7,500 personnel” during high-stakes matches.
At the beginning of September, Darmanin spoke of a “maximum level” of security and an “unprecedented” mobilization of the security apparatus. “In two months, there were 4,880 anti-delinquency operations, or more than 80 per day, which resulted in 781 arrests,” he detailed on Sunday. More than 100,000 administrative investigations were carried out, removing more than 800 people from the stadiums “who had either a criminal record or a risk of radicalization”. Jovial, the Minister of the Interior continued to spin the rugby metaphor as a projection: “We scored a try. We now have to transform the test, it’s the Olympics.” The challenge will be quite different.
Flow management
It is an understatement to say that a year after the fiasco of the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool at the Stade de France, the authorities were expected on this side. Quite a successful bet, except for two or three hiccups during the first weekend of competition in particular. Technical problems with the ticket control gates caused difficulties in the routing of the flow of supporters arriving at the Vélodrome to attend the England-Argentina match. Ten minutes before the start of the match, hundreds of people had not yet passed through the turnstiles, which preceded pat-down checks by security agents. After the kick-off, there were still several dozen of them having to wait. “In a tournament of this size, we inevitably encounter difficulties at one point or another, it would be completely irresponsible to say that we all knew that it would go perfectly well,” admits Michel Poussau, executive director of the tournament, to Libé. for World Rugby. “Each time, it was resolved immediately,” he defends himself, pointing to the “upstream planning” effort.
Transports
In certain host cities such as Lille, no major logistical failure to report on the part of local elected officials or the public in the transportation of spectators, despite the sharp increases in travelers recorded by the Ilévia public transport network (up to 20 000 supporters on match nights). Others had to deal with a few hiccups. In Bordeaux, Romanian and Irish aficionados experienced major problems getting back to Matmut Atlantique on time on September 9, as the public transport system was not sufficiently adapted to such an influx of people. In Nantes, the same observation: the tram service was quickly overwhelmed by waves of supporters during peak periods. The city’s sports deputy and vice-president of Nantes Métropole, Ali Rebouh, deplored “overvalued use of the tram-train” by the organizers. The local branch of Actu.fr also specifies that free transport on weekends “was not understood by foreign supporters who still bought tickets”.
Spin off
This was one of the objectives stated by World Rugby and the French organizing committee: to set up the most profitable edition in history. According to the forecast figures communicated by the organizers to Libé, the bet is about to be won. The international body will generate between 400 and 450 million euros in revenue, while the French organizing committee estimates profits at around 40 million euros. Cash inflows in line with final forecasts. The bulk of the revenue was generated by “hospitality” (premium seats) and tickets, all of which were sold, except for the hundreds of empty seats during the semi-finals. Some criticism has been raised about the prices considered too high for certain menus and drinks in the stands managed by France 2023. Michel Poussau says he is “surprised by the comment because on the contrary, we have a lot of extremely positive feedback from our fans” . Which didn’t stop spectators from skimming the stocks of beer, which flowed more freely than ever. For example, 137,000 pints were consumed during Ireland-Scotland according to Olympic Midday. A record at the Stade de France.
#Olympic #success #Liberation