Strasbourg, Nice, Lille or even Brest, Périgueux and Orléans… 65 cities but not Lyon. The largest city in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region is absent from the map of France unveiled this Friday by the organizers of the 2024 Olympic Games. The flame will not pass through the capital of Gaul, nor in the rest of the department.
As for other territories, like Isère and Savoie, the department justified this choice by “the cost requested”. “We are not a big community with a big budget, explains the president of the departmental council LR Christophe Guilloteau. What was claimed represents all of the grants allocated in one year to all of our sports committees. We do not have the same resources as the Alpes-Maritimes, yet the organization demanded the same amount. »
180,000 euros for one day
The amount of the invoice to have the flame at home? 180,000 euros according to the president of the metropolis of Lyon EELV. Bruno Bernard said: “We would have liked to do it, of course, but 180,000 euros for an action that lasts one day, does not seem reasonable to us in terms of public action. According to him, “it would have been more logical to go through the regions, to have territorial equity”.
The Greater Lyon metropolis but also several municipalities in the department are, nevertheless, labeled “Terre de jeux” for the 2024 Olympics, which consists of “deploying programs related to sport”. “Sporting events remain more important for our population than a passing of the flame”, affirms Christophe Guilloteau who recalls that the Tour de France will be “very present” in the department in two weeks. But still not in Lyon.