A ban on the serving and consumption of alcohol in the public areas as well as the dining of the Games Village of Tokyo Olympics could be imposed even as athletes will be allowed to consume it inside their personal rooms.
Talking to reporters in this regard, Toshiri Muto, CEO of Tokyo Olympic Games Organising Committee, said: “In case they were to drink inside their own rooms — this is equivalent to cases where we are drinking in our own home.”
“Can we prohibit that (drinking inside own rooms)? That’s not conceivable. It would be very difficult to do so,” he added.
However, Muto said that alcohol might be banned from dining and public areas in the Games Village.
“We have not yet clearly decided on the [alcohol] policy. We hope to do so by the end of this month,” added Muto.
Notably, the Japanese capital is under a state of emergency till June 20 following which alcohol sales in bars are prohibited as the administration looks to curb Covid-19 cases by discouraging locals from partying.
However, if the emergency period is extended, the local population may get irked witnessing athletes consuming alcohol while they remain under restriction.
The Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed last year due to the global pandemic, is scheduled to begin on July 23.