The French Canoe Kayak Federation’s (FFCK) new headquarters located on the site of the Olympic venue for Paris 2024 has been inaugurated.
FFCK President Jean Zoungrana was on hand to cut the ribbon at the Maison des Sports de Pagaie in Vaires-sur-Marne on November 30.
He was joined at the inauguration by Ludovic Roye, National Technical Director for the FFCK and key players that helped to make the project come to life.
Among those included Patrick Karam, Vice President in charge of sports, Olympic and Paralympic heritage, citizenship at the Île-de-France Regional Council, Bouchra Fenzar-Rizki, Vice President in charge of sports at the Seine-et-Marne Departmental Council, Virginie Thobor, head of the sports division of the Drajes Île-de-France, representing the National Sports Agency, and Anna Sanna, associate architect of Studio Sanna Balde.
“This ‘House’ was made possible thanks to the valuable support of our partners,” a statement from the FFCK read.
“We warmly thank the Ile-de-France Region, the Department of Seine-et-Marne and the National Sports Agency for their daily commitment to the federation.
“Their support was decisive and made it possible to make this project a reality and thus offer an emblematic place for all paddle sports enthusiasts and all the actors of the territory.”
Mr Zoungrana, who has been President of the FFCK since 2016, pushed ahead with plans to create the new headquarters after Paris was awarded the hosting rights for the Olympic Games in 2017.
Work started on the Vaires-sur-Marne site in 2020 before the €8million headquarters was opened in time for the Games earlier this year.
It is situated next to the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium that staged the Canoe Slalom and Canoe Sprint competitions at the Olympics and Paracanoe at the Paralympics.
Up to 40 members of the FFCK’s staff will be located at the Maison des Sports de Pagaie which translates to the House of Paddle Sports in English.
Mr Zoungrana, who is the President of the European Canoe Association and a member of the International Canoe Federation Executive Committee, underlined the importance of the move to help grow the federation.
“Our old headquarters was too small to develop our activities,” said Mr Zoungrana.
“When I was first elected as President, we had 18 people working for the federation at the headquarters.
“Today, we have 35 to 40 people.
“It was my objective to build an Olympic legacy from Paris 2024 and the headquarters is one of the main legacies.
“We want to continue to develop activities at the venue.
“We have the Canoe Slalom European Championships next May and there are a lot of other competitions that we want to organise.”
