Paris, Jun 23 (AP) France's court of auditors provided Monday the first official estimate of public spending tied to the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics, with the global public expenditure estimated at nearly six billion euros ($6.8 billion).

The Cour des Comptes said in its preliminary report, which was published ahead of the 2030 Winter Olympics also awarded to France, that the spending includes €2.77 billion for the event organization and €3.19 billion for infrastructure investments.

Also Read | Olympic Day 2025: PV Sindhu Urges Citizens To Join 'Let's Move' Initiative on June 23.

Paris 2024 organizers challenged the estimates in comments attached to the report. They notably said that some expenditures which predated the event and will continue afterward can't be attributed to Games. They also said that attributing major investments to the Olympics, despite being unrelated projects launched long before, is unjustified.

“Through its methodological choices, the Court has in fact declined to examine the only question that would meaningfully inform public debate: how much public money would have been saved if the Games had not been held in Paris?," said Tony Estanguet, the former head of the organizing committee.

Also Read | FIFA Club World Cup 2025: Ilkay Gundogan Scores Brace As Manchester City Cruise Into Knockouts With 6-0 Win Over Al-Ain.

"It is undeniable that this amount would be far less than the €6 billion currently cited by the court. The organizing committee, as it already stated during the contradictory procedure, estimates that this figure does not exceed €2 billion, while the expected economic benefits of the Games are said to represent three to five times that amount,” he added.

The Cour des Comptes insisted that its progress report is based on data available as of March 31, 2025, and does not claim to draw final conclusions.

“The report does not include, due to unavailable data, any analysis of the positive or negative effects of the Games on economic activity or tax revenues, nor an assessment of tax expenditures related to their organization,” the Cour said in a summary statement. "On this last point, the tax authorities informed the Court that no overall estimate is currently planned. This position is unsatisfactory, and the Court calls on the State to begin this evaluation without delay.” (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)