French financial prosecutors have opened an investigation into the salary of the head of the Paris 2024 Olympic Organizing Committee, Tony Estanguet, according to a source close to the case.
The investigation was launched last week and assigned to the Paris judicial police.
Estanguet, a three-time Olympic canoeing champion, receives an annual gross salary of €270,000, with additional bonuses that can reach up to 20%, according to figures released by the committee in 2018.
According to a report by the investigative newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné in October 2023, Estanguet uses his own company to bill the organizing committee on a monthly basis instead of receiving a salary.
This arrangement is reportedly designed to avoid a salary cap imposed on charities, which is the status of the organizing committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The organizing committee expressed “surprise” at the investigation: “The organizing committee was surprised to discover this information,” it said, stressing that “the president’s salary is strictly regulated.”
It added that Estanguet’s salary “was set and approved by the board of directors of the organizing committee on March 2, 2018, in his absence, in a sovereign and independent manner.”
“The payment terms were verified by the general economic and financial auditor and in consultation with the social security institution,” it continued.
The news is an embarrassing development for Estanguet, 45, who is preparing with his team to organize the Games from July 26 to August 11.
The three-time Olympic gold medalist has so far avoided the legal problems that have embroiled other members of the organizing committee.
Corruption has long plagued previous editions of the Olympic Games, from the awarding of hosting rights to construction contracts and lucrative service deals related to hosting the event.
