Global IT outage halts operations in Paris

MANILA, Philippines — The Paris Olympics were affected by the global IT outage on Friday, with organizers temporarily unable to hand out accreditations to athletes and officials arriving for the Games.

Airlines, banks, TV channels and other businesses across the world have scrambled following one of the biggest computer crashes in recent years, caused by an update to an antivirus program.

“Like a lot of organizations, we suffered this global Microsoft outage,” chief organizer Tony Estanguet told reporters, a week before the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

“All of our servers were affected this morning.”

By 5 p.m. (1500 GMT), the organizing committee said its operations were “now running normally,” with the evening hours at its accreditation center extended to help clear a backlog of demands.

Thousands of athletes have begun flying into the French capital ahead of the July 26-Aug. 11 event, while the organizing committee is also distributing badges and uniforms to 45,000 volunteers.

The IT problems did not affect Paris airport operator ADP, but “the arrival of some delegations has been impacted by delays to their flights.”

Paris is putting the finishing touches to preparations for the first Olympics in the French capital in a century. The venues are on track, the weather has brightened up after months of rain, and the water quality in the Seine has improved.