In addition to the 55,000 invitations to the Olympic Opening Ceremony, the City of Paris is offering 50,000 tickets to attend various competitions during the Games. Here’s how this solidarity ticketing initiative is organised.
With this solidarity ticketing scheme, Paris wants to create a festival open to all by inviting Parisians from all backgrounds with a focus on people who don’t usually go to major events. By inviting members from sports associations, community organizations and working-class neighborhoods, Paris is highlights the importance of these invaluable public service partners, most of whom are working on the legacy of the Games.
In addition to the 55,000 tickets reserved for residents of the capital to attend the Opening Ceremony, the City has purchased a further 50,000 tickets to enable its priority groups to attend the competitions free of charge (20,000 tickets for the Olympic Games and 30,000 tickets for the Paralympic Games).
Paris has chosen to distribute tickets among different members of the general public, relying on 850 associative structures from all of the arrondissements:
• 47% of tickets: Parisian youth and underprivileged residents = 23,288 tickets;
• 18% of tickets: amateur Parisian athletes = 9,048 tickets ;
• 28% of tickets: active contributors to daily Games organization (workers, volunteers, etc.) = 14,087 tickets ;
• 7% of tickets: public relations (elected representatives, foreign delegations, etc.) = 3,577 tickets.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity and an honor for our association,” enthuses Mathieu Pradel, director of the Tatane association, which will benefit from the solidarity scheme. “It’s a unique experience and a great event that we’ll all be able to share together with the young people we work with”. Tatane was founded in 2012 by former French international footballer Vikash Dhorasoo, its aim is to “use peoples’ passion for soccer to create social interactions. We use soccer as a unifying starting point. For example, we host sewing activities to allow people to customize soccer shirts!”
In addition to soccer sessions, the association is involved in two schemes initiated for the Paris 2024 Games, “Paris Sportives”, to boost female participation in sport, and “Education through sport”, that helps kids who’ve dropped out of school.
It’s not the first time that the City of Paris has made attending major sporting events possible for underprivileged residents. In 2022, this solidarity ticketing scheme covered thirteen events, with over 5,000 tickets donated to the City’s priority groups.
For 2023, this ticketing scheme involved nine events. Over 15,000 tickets were given away for the Rugby World Cup, the Wheelchair Rugby World Cup and the Para-Athletics World Championships, to state but a few examples.
Key Figures:
20,000. Paris purchased 20,000 tickets to allow its priority groups to attend the Olympic Games free of charge and 30,000 tickets for the Paralympic Games.
