The group, whose name translates as "No to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris", said the current economic and social crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic "deserves more funding than the Olympic Games".

Concerns over the potential for considerable cost overruns and the financial impact of the possible cancellation of Tokyo 2020, postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 virus, are also expressed by NON aux JO2024 à Paris in the petition.

NOlympics LA, a group opposed to Los Angeles staging the 2028 Olympic Games, is among the co-signatories of the petition.

"We cannot make our way towards a new world along the misguided path of the old one," the petition states.

"We must reject the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

"We must invest in health, education, housing, and public services. 

"The current economic and social crisis deserves more funding than the Olympic Games.

"The Olympic Games are a symbol of unchecked globalisation, and a threat to the environment and to our heritage. 

"Above all, they are an immense waste for the benefit of some (corporate sponsors, real estate developers, the construction sector…) that we can no longer afford."

The coronavirus pandemic has led to fresh calls for a referendum on Paris hosting the 2024 Games, while City Council officials have also relaunched the debate on the city staging the event.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said in a recent interview with the L'Équipe newspaper that "these are the same doubts that were expressed at each stage of the case, the same respectable oppositions" and said organisers would have to "integrate the lessons of this health crisis" into the planning of the Games.

There have been more than 28,000 COVID-19 deaths in France, with Paris hit particularly hard.

Professional sport will not return to France until at least September.

insidethegames has contacted Paris 2024 for comment.

At the time of publishing this article, the petition had more than 890 signatures.