French Alps 2030 recruiting search a work in progress

With former athletes Martin Fourcade and Tony Estanguet passing up on the opportunity to lead the Olympic project and top executives like Henri Giscard d'Estaing following suit, attention now turns to ex Medef leader Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux.

Well over a month after Edgar Grospiron bid adieu to the Winter Games Organising Committee president post, sadly rounding up an untenable two-year trajectory at the helm, the French Alps 2030 leadership void remains a pressing issue if the country indeed intends to deliver a successful event, similar to the Paris 2024 Games' mostly stellar results.

The 59-year-old Vicent Roberti is still handling matters on an interim basis, doubling up with his duties as director general, and France's top sports brass was adamant when it appointed the former Tarn-et-Garonne prefect back in September that it would make its due diligence in picking the permanent COJOP president in order to avoid further missteps; but the decision-makers are also well aware that time is of the essence and, as Sports Minister Marina Ferrari stressed when Grospiron was still in charge, officials can ill-afford to "fall asleep at the wheel" as the International Olympic Committee closely monitors the situation.

With 2027 closing in and the list of possible candidates still in flux as high-profile names like Fourcade, Estanguet and former Club Med top chair Giscard d’Estaing already said non merci, the two-time European ice dance champion Nathalie Péchalat reportedly remains in the mix while another quite different option has gained steam recently, possibly eyeing an eagerly-awaited appointment by the end of the month: that of the former president of Medef—the national employers organisation— Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux.

According to a report by Radio France last week, the 64-year-old is now said to be the favourite to succeed Grospiron full-time atop the COJOP;  thanks in part to the networks he has built up in the business world at a time when financial problems are plaguing the Winter Games project, with nearly two-thirds of its budget coming from private funding.

Roberti indicated recently that the organising body was counting on "a public contribution that will be at least equal to last year's, or even up to €15 million more, but this is still under discussion". The official then explained that the COJOP was waiting on the deliberations of the two organising regions and the State to finalise the contained budget, for which it has also drawn €42 million from its contingency reserve, "corresponding to the inclusion of costs that are now certain".

With France's latest social unrest and political turmoil turning extremely violent this weekend and presidential elections on the not-too-distant horizon, national leaders are facing an uphill climb towards establishing organisational credibility, let alone replicating 2024's Parisian success. 

Born in the capital's 15th arrondissement, Bézieux's business acumen and corporate credentials are as solid as they come, having served as the president of France's leading employers organisation from 2018 to 2023, then as founding president of the Alliance des Patronats Francophones until 2025, currently featuring as honorary president of both organisations.

His interpersonal skills are highly valued within Olympic circles, according to national media outlets that also note some considerable opposition from local regional political players currently raising environmental concerns linked to the organisation of the event. As for reliable 2030 French Alps experience, he is also well-placed for the role, having chaired the organisation's remuneration committee for the past six months, with the added  advantage of having integrated the Paris 2024 board of directors.

Count the mayor of Courchevel, Jean-Yves Pachod, among the restless regarding Winter Games  funding efforts after Solideo, the company responsible for delivering the Olympic infrastructure, recently revised downwards by €204 million the public contributions towards the investments planned for 2030. "The Department will not contribute to the funding of any of the identified Olympic facilities, which is, to say the least, extremely shocking given the spirit of 'Olympic Savoie' that should have endured into 2030," he stated during a meeting with residents on 7 October, next to other high-ranking French Alps officials.

Having competed in three Olympic Games, Péchalat's credentials, though quite different from Bézieux's, are also noteworthy, both on and off the ice: she served as head of delegation at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics whilst leading the French Ice Sports Federation from 2020 to 2022, and subsequently chaired Club France during the Paris 2024 bid. 

The COJOP, for now, remains non-committal on any of the possibilities that have been presented, with the responsibility to make the right pick falling on the shoulders of its Executive Committee formed by Minister Ferrari, regional leaders Fabrice Pannekoucke (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) and Renaud Muselier (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur), the National Olympic Committee Chair Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, Paralympic Committee counterpart Marie-Amélie Le Fur and former Prime Minister Michel Barnier.

Roberti, meanwhile, tried his best to dodge questions regarding the current standstill in the recruitment search for his eventual replacement. "For the moment, discussions are still ongoing; the process has not yet been finalised. I think the sooner the better. It's good to have a face and a personality at the helm of the COJOP, but at this stage it's not quite ready yet," he acknowledged earlier this month.