France would issue as many as 70,000 digital Schengen Visas to athletes, journalists, and delegations for the Olympic and Paralympic games, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported.

This makes it the first European Union country to take such a step. Since the start of this year, France has established a new system called ‘Olympic Consulate’ to process such applications.

The Olympic and Paralympic Games in France are set to be held from July 26 to August 11 and from August 28 to September 8, 2024, respectively.

As many as 15,000 athletes from around the world, 9,000 journalists and delegations of foreign countries are expected to participate in the two mega-events.

The system has been set up to avoid any mix-up of applications for the Olympics with files being processed at French visa centres abroad.

Applications would be filed and processed through the France-Visas platform online. The decision was taken in line with the EU Schengen visa digitalisation plans adopted by Parliament last October.

The 70,000 applicants would have their visas integrated into their accreditation cards instead of the orthodox way where visas were affixed to passports.

France expects around 1.5 million spectators from all over the world during the games.

Alejandro Recalde, the 2024 Paris Olympic Games services and relations manager, had said that athletes and officials having valid multiple-entry Schengen visas would not be required to apply for a French Schengen visa to attend the event. But they would require accreditation for the games.