Sports cooperation is part of the acts signed between Lula and the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, last week. In one of the texts, the heads of state state that “Brazil and France cooperate to promote and exchange knowledge in the field of sports, particularly in view of this year’s Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
But, after an intense international agenda in 2023, Lula chose to reduce the number of trips abroad in 2024, also taking into account the municipal election campaign in the second half of the year.
For the French, the Games and the presence of foreign leaders turned into a security nightmare. With wars, geopolitical tension and the return of the terrorist alert, the organizers indicated that they will have 50 thousand men providing security for the event.
Opening outdoors – and not inside a stadium – promises to further complicate the organization.
In recent years, the opening of Games or World Cups has become a test of the host’s popularity, the influence of that country or the demonstration of political alliances.
In 2022, at the Beijing Winter Games, leader Xi Jinping sent a message by giving a place of honor at the opening of the event to Russian Vladimir Putin, about to invade Ukraine.
