Paris edges toward 2024 Games bid

Paris moved closer to becoming a candidate for the 2024 Olympics offering the tantalising prospect of holding events under the Eiffel Tower and other emblematic venues in the French capital.
A feasibility study said that beach volleyball could be held in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, archery on the Invalides Esplanade near the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte and fencing in the historic Grand Palais museum.
The Stade de France that held football's 1998 World Cup final and Roland Garros, the venue for the French Open tennis each year, would also be used.
New infrastructure would cost three billion euros ($3.4 billion) and the operating budget another 3.2 billion euros but the study said Paris could hope to get back 1.8 billion euros from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
"France has the qualities to win" the Olympic race, said Bernard Lapasset who headed an official committee that presented a report on the possible campaign to Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo and the French government on Thursday.
After handing over his report Lapasset said France needed to "move as quickly as possible" onto negotiations with the IOC about a bid.
But Hidalgo said she would submit a possible bid for approval by the mayors of the 20 Paris arrondissements in March and to the full city council in April. The socialist mayor is worried about opposition from rival parties over the cost.
With so many existing venues on the draft plan, only a new swimming pool and a village for the 10,000 athletes would have to be built.
Hidalgo who has not publicly said she wants to enter the race, indicated more strongly that she is ready for a bid. "We need to lay the foundations of a strong candidacy with the sporting movement at the forefront," she told a press conference.
- Olympic battle -
Paris will have to beat a strong field of contenders if it enters.
Rome has already announced that it will lead an Italian bid. The US city of Boston is also a candidate while Germany are deciding between Berlin and Hamburg.
Durban in South Africa could press to become the first African host of the Games.
Istanbul -- who were runners-up to Tokyo for the 2020 Games -- is also considering a new bid. Doha and Baku, the Azerbaijan capital, have also been mentioned as possible candidates.
If the French capital wins the Games would be held on the 100th anniversary of the last time Paris staged the Olympics.
Paris was considered the frontrunner for the 2012 Olympics and has never got over the disappointment of losing to London, whose event was widely acclaimed.
Lapasset, the president of World Rugby, and Tony Estanguet, triple Olympic canoeing champion, would lead the bid campaign, which is already supported by President Francois Hollande.
Bids must be submitted to the IOC by September 15 and a shortlist of qualified candidates will be announced in 2016. A final decision will be taken by an IOC congress in Lima, Peru in mid-2017.
Source: AFP