Climate activists spread fake blood on Olympic rings monument in Paris

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – In the latest in a series of high-profile environmental protests, climate activists spread fake blood on the Olympic rings monument in front of the town hall in Paris.

The Youth for Climate (YFC) group shared photos of their Wednesday protest on Twitter/X, mentioning how this time next year the French capital will be hosting the Olympics.

"Built on sacrificing human lives, ecocidal and anti-social, is this really the sport that we want? The Olympics destroy, let us go on the offensive," the group said Thursday.

The group also said that they spread fake blood on the Olympic rings to "denounce the human, ecological, and social costs of the games."

"We denounce the obliviousness of the institutions and the politicians who worsen the climate and social crises," the group added.

Last December, French daily Liberation accused authorities of exploiting illegal workers at Olympic venue construction sites.

"The French workers do not want to do this job. Almost all of the workers on the construction sites are foreigners. Pakistanis for the electricity, Arabs for the plumbing, Afghans for the masonry... The whites are the ones who are in the offices," a worker told Liberation, while others complained of having no human rights or safety measures.

Facing accusations of resettling homeless people from Paris to other regions, Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera denied this in May, saying such steps had nothing to do with the Olympics.