Saudi athletes won't be allowed to set up their 'Olympic village' at Les Invalides

There will be no Saudi "Olympic village" at Les Invalides this summer, during the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Gulf state had asked the French government  for permission to set up the "Olympic village" near the landmark site.

France has said that Saudi Arabia cannot base its athletes in Les Invalides in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, franceinfo reported yesterday, confirming a report by Europe 1 radio.

Initially, Saudi Arabia had asked the French government to allow its athletes to stay at Les Invalides, instead of the official Olympic village, inaugurated at the end of February, in three towns on the outskirts of Paris.

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France presented a list of conditions that the Gulf country needed to comply with in order to move into the area around Les Invalides, which houses the Hôtel des Invalides, a complex of buildings containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France.

"The Saudis made a request, to which the French authorities responded with a series of demands. For the moment, there's no turning on that", said the sport minister, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, on RTL at the beginning of March.

The proposed facility had been denounced by some MPs of the opposition.

At the end of February, Nathalie Serre, the LR (Republicans) MP for the Rhône region, asked the government for details about an Olympic village at Les Invalides.

"Although Saudi Arabia is our ally, it raises questions about respect for human rights, particularly those of women and the LGBT community", the MP warned.

Following Paris's refusal, the question of how to accommodate the dozens of Saudi athletes during the Olympic (26 July-11 August) and Paralympic (28 August-8 September) Games remains unanswered.