29. 06. 2023 | Kristýna Bezděková

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Ordinary spectators will not be able to buy alcoholic beverages at the sports venues at next year’s Summer Olympics in Paris. They will only be available to VIP guests backstage.

Organisers of the Paris Olympics have announced that fans will only be able to buy non-alcoholic drinks at stadiums and other sports venues. They are referring to a 1991 law that bans the sale of alcohol at such sporting events.

While the law allows for exemptions to be granted, the organisers have not even applied for them. In fact, according to The Guardian, permits are limited to ten events per year per organiser and per municipality. And while that may seem like a pretty benevolent quota, the entire Olympics simply won’t fit into it. The organising committee has therefore said that, in the case of the Paris Olympics, the law would have to be changed.

At the Olympic venues in Paris, alcohol will therefore only be available to VIP guests in closed lounges as part of the catering. This is subject to special laws and regulations.

The Guardian recalls that alcohol was not available to ordinary spectators even at the last Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, but there, due to the measures in connection with the pandemic of covid-19, there were no spectators in the sports venues. In contrast, beer and wine were sold at London 2012 and Rio 2016.

The fact that another major sporting event, the Rugby World Cup, is taking place in France in September and October, and its organisers have managed to negotiate an exemption from the law, is also a source of embarrassment.

Source, photo: theguardian.co.uk, pixabay

Kristýna Bezděková

Kristýna is a student of marketing and communication in an undergraduate program. She writes and translates content into the Czech language