The senators have ideas in mind. After the incidents that occurred during the Champions League football final at the end of May 2022, the Senate Law and Culture Committees, in a joint report, had issued as a very first recommendation the use of tamper-proof tickets for the entrance to stadiums. Thanks to the bill relating to the Olympic and Paralympic Games (JOP), the senators are extending their request: in an amendment, adopted on Tuesday July 17 by the Culture Committee, they propose to establish “an obligation for the organizers of the most important sporting events” to use tickets “nominative, dematerialized and tamper-proof”.
“It is essential to better prevent fraud and disturbances in sports arenas”considers Claude Kern (Centrist Union), author of the amendment and rapporteur for opinion on the bill, which refers in particular to what happened during the Champions League final, between Real Madrid and Liverpool: Thousands of UK spectators were unable to access the stadium, many without tickets, some with counterfeit tickets.
On this last point, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin had sparked controversy by evoking a “massive, industrial and organized fraud”. He had accused “35,000 supporters” English for coming to Paris with forged tickets, or without tickets, and thus causing congestion at the entrance to the stadium.
After investigation, it emerged that the number of counterfeit tickets had actually been 2,471 (including 1,644 in the area dedicated to Liverpool supporters). A figure, however “ten times higher than the averages usually observed” during European football matches, according to the Senate report.
The adopted amendment does not specify from how many spectators this obligation would apply. “This gauge will be fixed by decree in order to take into account the specificities of each discipline and the context”explains Claude Kern.
Furthermore, this provision would only apply as of July 1, 2024. The time of “carrying out an in-depth dialogue with the sports movement”. In any case, “the sports minister [Amélie Oudéa-Castéra] share our position on this subject »assures Claude Kern about the future of this amendment during the discussion of the bill in public session, from January 24.
A sanction targeting environmental activists
The senators also increased the sanctions proposed by the government (creation of two new offences) aimed at persons attempting to enter, or entering, by force or by fraud in a sports arena, and those entering the competition area during a sporting event.
Where the bill proposes to establish, for situations of recidivism or in meetings, on the one hand six months’ imprisonment and a 7,500 euro fine, on the other hand a 7,500 euro fine, the senators wish to add tort sanctions aimed at “isolated first offenders” : they would be fined 3,750 euros in both cases.
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“The objective is to prevent the reiteration of the troubles observed recently at the Stade de France on the one hand and at Roland Garros on the other”, underlines the amendment. If the mention of the Stadium
de France refers to fraudulent entry attempts, that of Roland-Garros concerns the actions of environmental activists who have, in recent months, interrupted several sporting events, including the Parisian tennis tournament.
Genetic testing for the fight against doping beyond the Games
The Senate Culture Committee has also adopted an amendment which aims, in the context of the fight against doping, to extend the application of genetic tests, instituted by the bill relating to the JOP. These would concern “all competitions, whether international or national, as well as out-of-competition testing”.
The government proposes, during “the period surrounding the Games”to authorize the French anti-doping laboratory of Châtenay-Malabry – which will settle in Orsay from 2023 – to carry out analyzes “consisting of the examination of genetic characteristics or the comparison of genetic fingerprints of athletes” to detect the presence and use of prohibited substances or methods.
The amendment of the culture committee comes in addition to an amendment that should be adopted, Wednesday, January 18, the Senate law committee, which aims to extend the duration of experimentation of these genetic tests beyond only JOPs, “until June 2025”. “If we do not act, we could experience a weakening of the expertise of the national anti-doping laboratory”advances Claude Kern, who adds that “These tests are already carried out in Switzerland or Belgium”.
According to the impact study communicated by the government, the volume of genetic analysis carried out during the previous Games “remains limited since it amounted to 25 in Tokyo and 31 in Beijing”.
Our selection of articles on the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Find all our content on the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games:
- Keeping the budget, a priority
The Court of Auditors warns of the balanced budget of the organization of the Games
State and communities endorse an increase in the cost of Olympic sites
The State and communities double their funding for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
- Safety, a major issue
Intelligent video surveillance will take its first steps at the Olympics and will be tested until June 2025
The organizing committee faced with the security of an exceptional event
Faced with the shortage of agents, the risk of security at a discount
- The transport site
Ile-de-France Mobilités forced to relaunch a call for tenders for the transport of athletes and officials
RER, Transilien, metro…: pharaonic works will affect the daily lives of millions of users in Ile-de-France in 2023
Public transport in doubt in the face of opening up to competition
- Seine-Saint-Denis at the forefront
The bet of the Paris 2024 Olympics for Seine-Saint-Denis
“The thirty days of competition must be successful, but the thirty years of heritage, that’s what mobilizes us”
Paris and its neighbors reconquering the Seine
- Future sites are being prepared
In Châteauroux, the time trial to accommodate athletes and accompanying persons
In Elancourt, the construction site of the future mountain bike site has been launched, but remains under discussion
- The “Olympic Games effect” outside Paris and Seine-Saint-Denis
Local authorities are struggling to join the Olympic momentum
Label “Land of games” : “We have the feeling, on our scale, of contributing to the Olympics”
Les Mureaux dream of “Breakdance Clairefontaine”
- The Olympic Games, an accelerator for the renovation of sports equipment
2024: local authorities faced with the urgency of thermal renovation of sports infrastructure
Seine-Saint-Denis relies on the Games to make up for the lack of swimming pools
The “1,000 solidarity dojos” wanted by Macron are slow to see the light of day