Don’t call it Vélodrome anymore, at least until August 18. The Paris-2024 organization has been regaining the keys to the stadium since July 11, to which it has exclusive rights until August 18, in principle. The symptoms of the “Orange Velodrome” that were usually enthroned on the facades of Jean-Bouin and Ganay have been eliminated and the classic call replaced by that of the “State of Marseille” for the duration of the Olympic Games, according to the nomenclature of the International Olympic Committee. . A call that can also be discovered in the European football cups since UEFA does not use the advertising name of the stadiums.
If the organizers of Paris-2024 now have exclusivity over the stadium until August 18, they have announced that they have reached an agreement with Mars 360 (OM’s events subsidiary) to dismantle the facilities as temporarily as possible after the 6th. August, date of the semi-final that will take place in Marseille. A necessity because Martigues, who now plays in Ligue 2, will use the Vélodrome for part of the 2024-2025 season, until the improvement work on its stadium is completed and it will begin its league season with the reception to Lorient on December 17. August. The OM, for its part, traveled to Brest.
The replacement of the Vélodrome squad for the Olympic fortnight caused a lot of stir in the Marseille city just a year ago. Some elected officials in Marseille worried that the Vélodrome could simply be decorated with the inscription “Paris 2024”, which they said would have undermined coverage of “the identity of the stadium and the history of the club”.
A controversy that was attenuated with Tony Estanguet, president of the organizing committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, arguing that the host cities had the option: “It is up to the host communities to plan the deployment of the vision of the Games. “Ultimately, only the Olympic rings, the symbol of the Olympic Games, will be placed on the stadium’s pediment. Once considerations have been dispelled, the Olympic football tournament will begin in Marseille on July 24, two days before the opening ceremony, with the arrival of Thierry Henry’s Bleuets in the United States (9 pm).
At the Marina, the other Olympic venue, athletes have until Wednesday, July 17 to take over the venue for the sailing events that will begin on July 28.
As the fateful day approaches, security measures are being taken in the city of Marseille. Around the two Olympic venues, the stadium and the marina, green doors hinder access to infrastructure. Now only other people accredited through the organizers can access those areas. A reinforced formula for the coverage of athletes, their apparatus and spectators.
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