VIPs exempt as Paris Olympics organisers confirm stadium alcohol ban

VIPs only will be allowed to drink alcohol during next year's Paris Olympics, organisers said Tuesday, in line with the so-called Evin law banning its sale in stadiums.

"In application of the Evin law, alcohol will be banned from sale to the general public in stadiums during the Paris 2024 Games," organisers of Paris 2024 told AFP.

Introduced in 1991, the Evin law outlaws the sale of alcohol in stadiums, but it has some loopholes.

Legislation allows organisers to request up to 10 exemptions per year and per municipality. But the organising committee of Paris 2024 said it did not seek any such exemption because the Games entail the organisation of "more than 700 sporting sessions over 15 days of competition".

The one exception at Paris 2024 under the law, however, will be for VIPs in hospitality boxes where food is also on offer.

"It is not up to Paris 2024 to comment on this difference, but to the legislator, in the last resort, to define the relevant framework for event organisers," the organising committee said.

Alcohol was available at the 2012 London Olympics and four years later in Rio, but the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games also banned it, albeit with no fans in the stadiums.