The Olympic Games show the glamour, but behind the glitter of the medals there is always a downside. Le revers de la médaille is a collective of 75 social associations that aims to highlight the problems that the most disadvantaged groups may face as a result of the arrival of the Olympic Games in the French capital.

According to the General Directorate for Foreigners in France (DGEF), more than 3,000 people have visited its offices to assess their situation, which is somewhat worrying given the evictions and relocations they could face. It is clear that the situation will worsen as time goes on and the Olympic Games approach.


More than 3,000 people have been placed in structures where the police are analysing and investigating their personal and specific situation in the Ile de France region, where they will be competing in just seven months' time. Many associations are crying foul because of the uncertainties that have arisen.

This relocation could jeopardise the traditions and current way of life of the most disadvantaged people who receive aid (food, shelter, housing, etc.). What the associations, including Le Reverse de la Médaille, criticise is that the relocations that have taken place or are planned could be short-lived, thus increasing the vulnerability of these people.

The current situation has been made more tense by the demonstration that took place last Friday in the Montmartre district, next to the Basilica of the Sacré-Coeur. 

The campaign aimed to highlight the mistreatment of the poor and lower classes before and during the Olympic Games. They are calling for a more inclusive society and for the legacy of the Games to be more social and inclusive.

In the early hours of last Friday morning, a group of associations and activists went to Montmatre and entered the steps of the Sacré Coeur Basilica. There they carried out a symbolic act with torches, posters, banners and pots of paint. Paul Alauzy, president of Médecins du Monde, spoke to the press covering the event. "What will happen to all these people in six months' time, when the Olympic flame is here and all the world's cameras are only interested in sport and the greatness of France?" 

With this message he wanted to emphasise the importance of taking care of people in the most precarious situations when the organisation of an event like the Olympic Games involves all the social and economic structures of a city. The demonstrators held up banners with the Olympic rings and threw paint on them in a symbolic and deliberate image".

Last Friday's was the second event organised by Le reverse de la médaille to protest against what they see as happening. The first was a letter sent to the Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (COJO), its president Tony Estanguet, the officials of Paris and Ile-de-France, the sports federations and the sponsors and partners of the Games.  

This letter, sent two months ago, was accompanied by a poster in front of the OCOG headquarters in Paris. The letter stated, among other things, that "the Games will cause profound disruption in the city, with a very negative impact on the lives of these disadvantaged people..."

A first meeting was then held with the OCOG, the Ile-de-France Prefecture, the City of Paris and the Paris Police Prefecture. All parties are aware of this worrying situation and the need to pay attention to it. At the moment, the talks between Le revers de la médaille and the Olympic Games are at a very early stage and many decisions and steps remain to be taken.

If they are not taken, the collective denounced, people in precarious situations risk disappearing and becoming invisible. Alauzy called for mobilisation in the remaining seven months before the Olympic Games..