French security forces screen a million athletes and staff ahead of Olympics

French security forces are vetting up to a million people before the Paris Olympics, including athletes and people living close to key infrastructure, the Interior Ministry has said.

Security guards patrol at sunrise by the Olympic rings installed on the Esplanade du Trocadero near the Eiffel Tower. AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN

Ahead of the Games on 26 July, all 10,500 athletes selected for the Paris Olympics and 4,400 for the Paralympics are being subjected to background checks, as will their coaches and medical staff, in addition to 26,000 accredited journalists.

"Nobody will be able to get accreditation from the organising committee unless they have been screened," said Julien Dufour, head of the Interior Ministry's security screening service, SNEAS.

"It's for everyone, except for spectators."

Of the 22,000 security agents and 45,000 volunteers, those with access to sensitive areas will be checked, while the 12,000 people chosen to take part in the torch relay have already been investigated.

A total of 13 people selected for the torch relay were rejected, including some who had committed drugs offences as well as a suspected Islamist.

With events set to take place around the French capital, including along the river Seine, Dufour said people living close to sensitive locations could also be vetted.

"You can assume there are investigations on people living in some areas," he said.

Criminal records checked

Officials will look for criminal records or mentions in national and international intelligence databases, with any findings then evaluated to see if they disqualify people for a role at the Games.

For example, a person with a conviction for drink-driving might be authorised to intervene to repair a machine in a sensitive area. "But it's a real issue if they are set to become a bus driver," Dufour explained.

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SNEAS, which was created in 2017, carried out 100,000 background checks for last year's Rugby World Cup in France, but Dufour declined to say how many people had been rejected.

Each host country for the Olympics carries out its own security screening.

For the 2012 Games in London, British security services checked 500,000 people – their biggest vetting process since World War II – and ultimately rejected 100, according to The Guardian newspaper.

(with AFP)