Macron Says he'll Swim in Seine as he Inspects Paris' New Olympic Village

France's President Emmanuel Macron, center left, and General Manager of Solideo Nicolas Ferrand, left, visits the Paris 2024 Olympic village during its inauguration ceremony in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron, center left, and General Manager of Solideo Nicolas Ferrand, left, visits the Paris 2024 Olympic village during its inauguration ceremony in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)
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Macron Says he'll Swim in Seine as he Inspects Paris' New Olympic Village

France's President Emmanuel Macron, center left, and General Manager of Solideo Nicolas Ferrand, left, visits the Paris 2024 Olympic village during its inauguration ceremony in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron, center left, and General Manager of Solideo Nicolas Ferrand, left, visits the Paris 2024 Olympic village during its inauguration ceremony in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron boldly promised to swim in the River Seine being cleaned up for the Paris Olympics as he toured the new complex that will house athletes on Thursday.
Macron cited pollution-reduction in the Seine as one of the Games' positive long-term impacts. He noted “extraordinary” public-funded investments being poured into making the river — largely off limits to bathers since 1923 — swimmable again.
Asked by a journalist whether he would bathe in it, Macron replied, “Me, yes, I'll go."
But he refrained from saying when.
“I'm not going to give you the date: There's a risk you'll be there,” he said.
Regardless of whether he does indeed don trunks, Macron's visit to the future high-security Olympic village served to highlight how the Paris Games are helping to transform some disadvantaged neighborhoods in the French capital's poorer suburbs, The Associated Press reported.
The eco-friendly village led to nearly 2,000 jobs being created, with 1,136 going to local residents. It cost about 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion), most of it investment by property developers but also including 646 million euros ($700 million) from public funds. The Olympic construction company, Solideo, transferred the village to Paris Games organizers on Thursday, symbolically handing over a large key, with Macron watching.
“It's a very big day,” Macron said. “It's a demonstration that France is a nation of builders.”
In a city repeatedly hit by deadly extremist attacks, security is the biggest challenge for organizers as they ready Paris for the July 26-Aug. 11 Games and Aug. 28-Sept. 8 Paralympics.
“Obviously, it's been an obsession since the beginning.” Macron said. “We have a colossal amount of work being done in advance."



UEFA Wants to Review Double Touch Rule That Was Costly for Atletico in Champions League Shootout

Football - Champions League - Round of 16 - Second Leg - Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid - Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain - March 12, 2025 Atletico Madrid's Julián Álvarez scores a penalty during the penalty shootout which is later disallowed after a VAR review for a double touch. (Reuters)
Football - Champions League - Round of 16 - Second Leg - Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid - Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain - March 12, 2025 Atletico Madrid's Julián Álvarez scores a penalty during the penalty shootout which is later disallowed after a VAR review for a double touch. (Reuters)
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UEFA Wants to Review Double Touch Rule That Was Costly for Atletico in Champions League Shootout

Football - Champions League - Round of 16 - Second Leg - Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid - Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain - March 12, 2025 Atletico Madrid's Julián Álvarez scores a penalty during the penalty shootout which is later disallowed after a VAR review for a double touch. (Reuters)
Football - Champions League - Round of 16 - Second Leg - Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid - Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain - March 12, 2025 Atletico Madrid's Julián Álvarez scores a penalty during the penalty shootout which is later disallowed after a VAR review for a double touch. (Reuters)

UEFA will look into the possibility of reviewing the double touch rule that helped lead to Atletico Madrid’s loss in a penalty shootout against Real Madrid in the Champions League.

UEFA said on Thursday it will enter discussions with FIFA and the International Football Association Board "to determine whether the rule should be reviewed in cases where a double touch is clearly unintentional.”

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is soccer's rules-making panel.

UEFA's statement came a day after Atletico Madrid lost 4-2 in the shootout against city rival Real Madrid in the second leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League. Atletico won 1-0 after regulation and extra time to force the shootout. Real Madrid won the first leg 2-1 last week at home.

With Atletico down 2-1 in the shootout in Metropolitano Stadium, forward Julián Álvarez touched the ball twice — although barely — while taking his kick and scoring.

Álvarez’s left foot slipped and contacted the ball slightly before he shot with his right foot. The referee did not initially see the double touch and allowed the goal to stand.

Real Madrid players immediately called the referee's attention to check on a double touch.

Video review intervened quickly and reversed the original call after determining the double touch.

Atletico wasn't so sure it happened even after watching different replays. The club made an official inquiry with UEFA to have the incident reviewed.

“Although minimal, the player made contact with the ball using his standing foot before kicking it, as shown in the attached video clip,” UEFA said after Atletico's inquiry. “Under the current rule (Laws of the Game, Law 14.1), the VAR had to call the referee signaling that the goal should be disallowed.”

The rule

The double touch rule exists to keep players from moving the ball closer to the goal on penalties.

The rule by IFAB states “the ball is in play when it is kicked and clearly moves,” and “the kicker must not play the ball again until it has touched another player.”

If the infraction happens outside of a shootout, an indirect free kick is awarded to the other team.

Without the rule, players could potentially attempt to dribble the ball closer to the net before taking their shots.

Similar case in South America

A similar case happened in a penalty shootout in the round of 16 of the 2023 Copa Libertadores.

River Plate player Pablo Solari also slipped and touched the ball twice before scoring, prompting VAR to disallow the goal that ended up leading to the elimination of the Argentine club against Brazil's Internacional.

There were also doubts about a possible double touch in a penalty taken by an Athletic Bilbao player in last year's Copa del Rey final, as well as one taken by Lionel Messi in the final of the 2022 World Cup in a match officiated by Szymon Marciniak, the same referee from Wednesday's Champions League derby in Madrid.

None of those two penalties were disallowed.

Atletico skeptical?

Neither Atletico coach Diego Simeone nor Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said they saw the double touch when it happened on Wednesday, though Madrid players at the midfield line, including Kylian Mbappé, were quick to point it out to the referee.

Simeone tried not to make a big deal about the VAR decision, but he said in the post-match news conference that he had never seen video review intervene like that in a penalty shootout. He said he wanted “to believe that if the VAR intervened it’s because it saw something.”

The coach asked reporters in the post-match news conference to raise their hands if they thought Álvarez touched the ball twice.

“There you go, no one has raised their hands,” Simeone said, “Next question.”

Álvarez has not yet spoken publicly about his penalty shot.