The Olympics Compliance Task Force is a collaboration of international anti-corruption and human rights academics and practitioners convened at the request of Compliance 2024.

The Task Force is working with stakeholders to the Paris 2024 Olympics and beyond to help design a new and emerging anti-corruption and human rights compliance approach.  We believe that carefully tailored measures can not only reduce corruption and human rights scandals, but can leave a lasting imprint on the host country of improved norms, policies, practices, and even laws.

Paris 2024: An Historic Opportunity

The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics present an unprecedented opportunity for the Olympic Movement and for France. In a single year – 2017 – three extraordinary events occurred:

• The International Olympic Committee formalized a new policy (see section 13.2 here) of contractually obligating the Host City, National Olympic Committee, and Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games to adopt anti-corruption and human rights compliance;
• At the same time, France was enacting its landmark anti-corruption compliance law, Sapin II, and a corporate human rights obligation, the Duty of Vigilance Law, heralding a new era for France’s compliance industry; and
• The IOC selected Paris to host the 2024 Games, inviting France to set the standard for Olympic corruption and human rights compliance.

Operationalizing the Host City Contract

When the new IOC contract is applied to France, it converges with France’s new laws and with the country’s Olympic governance institutions. This intersection generates a series of interesting and novel questions. Preparations for Paris 2024 will involve four different entities, each with distinct legal obligations to adopt anti-corruption and human rights compliance:  

• The host city: the City of Paris
• France’s National Olympic Committee: Le Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français (CNOSF)
• The Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (OCOG):  Paris 2024
• The companies doing business with these entities (contractors, sponsors, etc.)

These entities are constituted differently, and will have different obligations under international law, French law, the IOC contractual provisions, and global standards and best practices. The Task Force is thinking through the complex interplay of these entities and standards.

The Task Force’s Mission  

Our goal is to make substantial contributions to three important processes:

• Designing a framework of legal standards and best practices tailored to France’s unique legal and practical context;
• Implementing compliance in a practical, meaningful way in France, to leave a legacy of improved governance in the host country; and
• Setting a precedent that future host cities may build upon as they continue the project of building Olympic anti-corruption and human rights compliance.