The Grand Stade de Nice, as it was originally called, had already sparked much debate about its utility, funding, and construction. The details are well-known and have been the subject of debate multiple times in the City Council and Metropolitan Council chambers, as well as in numerous press articles.
Three years after its inauguration, the “Cash Investigation” team wanted to revisit the case in the form of a charge against its then-mayor Christian Estrosi, who continues to influence (through a stand-in) city policy even after his resignation.
The somewhat melodramatic and detective Colombo-style approach was certainly not what was needed to tackle such a complex, complicated, and sensitive case.
According to its authors, it was an opaque operation with costs that differed from those publicly announced: €372 million compared to €243 million (minus €69 million in public subsidies).
Given the discrepancy, there must be a mistake somewhere!
The most intriguing part of the show is the interview with the president of the Regional Chamber of Accounts, Louis Varneraud, who gave the explicit impression of validating the journalist’s thesis.
It is known that the CRC report had described the Public-Private Partnership arrangement with the Vinci group, which financed the construction and manages it in exchange for a fee from the city for the duration of the concession (27 years and 5 months), as “questionable”.
Again, we see a dance of figures: €12 million per year according to Cash Investigation, €8 million according to the city.
The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office intervened and seized a wealth of documentation to verify whether the procedures for allocating this investment, the most significant after the east-west tramway line, had been followed according to the municipal code.
To date, no conclusions have been communicated yet.
We shall see whether this show simply created noise or if it will serve as a lever to reopen a case that was thought to be classified as a closed affair.
Moreover, it is never too late to know the truth, if there is indeed a truth to be known.
