Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo on Friday said that she intends to keep the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower until at least 2028, despite facing backlash from some residents and lawmakers. This decision to retain the symbol came as a surprise to many.
“The proposal that I have made for the rings is a proposal that until 2028, until the Games in Los Angeles, we will leave the rings on the Eiffel Tower,” Hidalgo said addressing a press conference, news agency ABS-CBN reported.
“Perhaps after 2028, they’ll stay and maybe they won’t. Let’s see,” she added.
Expressing their disapproval, the descendants of the tower’s designer, Gustave Eiffel said that, “it does not seem appropriate to us that the Eiffel Tower, which has become the symbol of Paris and the whole of France since its construction 135 years ago, has the symbol of an outside organisation added to it”.
Hidalgo, the Socialist mayor who is in power since 2014 decision has also faced criticism from those who argue that it was a personal initiative taken without consulting the city’s council or the residents of Paris.
Some have accused Hidalgo of acting unilaterally and disregarding the opinions of those who may not agree with the decision to keep the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower for an extended period.