PARIS (AP) — With all eyes on the Milan Cortina Olympics, the organization of the Winter Games in France in four years' time is faltering.
Internal tensions have multiplied in recent months, against a backdrop of several resignations, culminating in open conflict between former Olympic gold medalist Edgar Grospiron, who is leading the project, and Cyril Linette, the director general now on his way out.
After a meeting of all stakeholders from the organizing committee, French organizers released a statement on Wednesday that acknowledged “the existence of irreconcilable disagreements between president Edgar Grospiron and director general Cyril Linette.”
During that meeting. Grospiron — a freestyle skiing gold medalist in 1992 when France last hosted the Winter Games and a late hire as president — was asked to come up with proposals to put the project back on tracks.
Organizers of the bid did not immediately respond when asked whether Linette had already stepped down.
Many challenges loom for organizers of the 2030 French Alps Olympics, who must tie together snow and sliding venues in the mountains with skating and curling arenas among the palm trees on the Riviera coastal city Nice. Speed skating events are likely to be held abroad at an existing venue to avoid the high costs of building a suitable rink, with the Thialf Arena in Heerenveen, Netherlands, or the Oval Lingotto in Turin, Italy, among contenders.
A definitive map of the sites has yet to be adopted and is expected to be decided by the end of June.
The feud between Grospiron and Linette is just the latest episode in a saga of turbulences that have weakened the project. It follows the successive resignations of chief operating officer Anne Murac, communications director Arthur Richer, as well as the departure of Bertrand Méheut, who was in charge of the remuneration committee.
Organizers said they have agreed on a governance timetable, with an executive board meeting to be held on Feb. 22. Etienne Thobois, the general director of the Paris 2024 Games, was last month tasked with a support mission and his recommendations will be reviewed during the meeting.
A further executive board meeting on March 19 will determine operational arrangements for implementing the new organization.
The French bid was quickly assembled in 2023 and approved by the International Olympic Committee on the eve of a successful Summer Games in Paris. The IOC granted an exceptional delay to secure guarantees from the French government as the 2030 Winter Games was on the tightest of time scales with just 5 1/2 years between the hosting award and the opening ceremony.
The governance crisis, which comes as the French Parliament has just adopted the law relating to the organization of the event, has alarmed French lawmakers. The Culture Committee of the French Senate expressed concerns about the organizers' ability to “successfully deliver an event of major importance” for France. It has summoned Grospiron and Pierre-Antoine Molina, the interministerial delegate for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, to a hearing on Feb. 25
The total budget for the 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games is estimated at around 3.4 billion euros ($4.04 billion), including the cost of organizing the Games (€2.1 billion) and infrastructure expenditure (€1.3 billion).
In addition to the infighting, the French project is also facing opposition from a citizen's group which has launched legal action to demand a public debate on the Games. They are staging a public protest in Grenoble on Saturday that will be followed by “a closing ceremony for the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
“Between the enormous budgetary waste of at least €3.5 billion, the destruction and concreting over of our mountains, confinement in an outdated and unjust all-ski model, generalized surveillance, and the exclusion of the most vulnerable, this so-called ‘celebration’ already appears to be one for a handful of wealthy tourists — while the people of the Alps will be left to pay the bill,” the Collectif Citoyen JOP 2030 said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
FILE - CEO Paris 2024, Etienne Thobois, is pictured on Friday, March 24, 2023 in Saint-Ouen, outside Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)
FILE - Head of 2030 Olympic Winter Games, Edgar Grospiron, delivers a speech during a press conference to launch the organizing committee for the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File)
Thousands of Catholic devotees commemorated Good Friday across Latin America with processions and ceremonies re-enacting the crucifixion of Jesus.
In Antigua, a colonial-era city in southern Guatemala, dozens dressed in purple and white robes and made their way under the early morning sun, many of them penitents known as “cucuruchos.” Others carried centuries-old images of Jesus through cobblestone streets.
The city hosts more than a dozen processions throughout Holy Week, set against a backdrop of volcanoes.
Marcos Bautista, 63, said he has attended the Good Friday observances since his father brought him along as a baby in his arms.
“To describe Holy Week in Antigua, there are no words that can capture what it feels like," Bautista said. “It’s a feeling that, just by speaking about what Jesus has done in our lives, moves me deeply.”
In Bolivia, President Rodrigo Paz traveled to the southern city of Tarija to participate in Good Friday ceremonies.
The country is a secular state under its constitution and its leaders refrained from engaging in any religious events between 2006 and 2025. But Paz — who took office last November — broke with precedent by attending Palm Sunday Mass carrying a palm frond.
In the capital city of La Paz, government authorities and military bands accompanied Good Friday processions, in which hooded penitents carried the Holy Sepulcher through the streets.
Bolivia remains a predominantly Catholic country, alongside strong Indigenous spiritual traditions. In some households, it is customary to eat only fish on Good Friday and prepare up to 12 dishes representing the apostles of Jesus, a tradition that has declined in recent years amid an economic crisis.
In Ecuador, where about 80% of the population identifies as Catholic, processions were held across major cities.
In Guayaquil, roughly half a million faithful attended the “Cristo del Consuelo” procession. Amid displays of devotion, some participants walked barefoot, while others wore thorn crowns or dragged crosses.
In the capital, Quito, the “Jesús del Gran Poder” procession drew more than 150,000 faithful, who filled the historic center’s streets with chants and prayers as they accompanied an image of Jesus carrying the cross.
Thousands more climbed the Monserrate Hill in neighboring Colombia. At more than 10,200 feet (3,100 meters) above sea level, they reached the summit in the capital city of Bogotá to attend Mass at the basilica. Similar observances, including reenactments of the Stations of the Cross, were held in other parts of the country, including Medellín.
While the share of Catholics in Latin America has declined over the past decade, the faith remains the region’s largest religion.
In several countries, including Mexico, Peru and Argentina, more than 60% of adults still identify as Catholic, according to 2024 surveys by the Pew Research Center and Latinobarómetro.
AP journalists Moisés Castillo in Antigua, Guatemala; Carlos Valdez in La Paz, Bolivia; Gonzalo Solano and Gabriela Molina, in Quito, Ecuador, contributed to this report.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Penitents from the Nazareno brotherhood carry a statue of Jesus down the steps of the Cathedral Basilica of St. James the Apostle for a Good Friday procession during Holy Week in Tunja, Colombia, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
A hooded penitent from the Nazareno brotherhood waits for the Good Friday procession inside the Cathedral Basilica of St. James the Apostle during Holy Week in Tunja, Colombia, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Young women and girls carry jeweled hearts representing the Virgin Mary at a Good Friday procession during Holy Week in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Hooded penitents participate in a Good Friday procession during Holy Week in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A statue of Jesus Christ with a cross makes its way past electric cables at La Merced church's Good Friday procession during Holy Week in Antigua, Guatemala, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Women carry children dressed as penitents knows as "cucuruchos" on the sidelines of La Merced church's Good Friday procession during Holy Week in Antigua, Guatemala, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Penitents carry statues of Jesus Christ representing the Stations of the Cross at a Good Friday procession by La Merced church during Holy Week in Antigua, Guatemala, just before sunrise Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Musicians dressed as Roman soldiers take part in La Merced church's Good Friday procession during Holy Week in Antigua, Guatemala, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
