The sale of alcohol will be prohibited in the stadiums during the 2024 Olympics in Paris, in accordance with the Evin law which, on the other hand, allows consumption in VIP areas, we learned from the organizers on Tuesday.
“In application of the Evin law, alcohol will be prohibited for sale to the general public in the stadiums during the Paris 2024 Games,” the Paris-2024 organizing committee told AFP on Tuesday.
The decision of the organizers of the Paris Olympics stems from the application of the Evin law which has prohibited the consumption of alcohol in stadiums and sports grounds for more than 32 years, but which also includes exceptions.
In particular, the legislation allows organizers to request up to ten exemptions per year and per municipality. But Paris-2024 is not eligible for such an exemption, because “more than 700 competition sessions over 15 days of competition” will be organized, specifies the organizing committee.
Another exception to French law: the consumption of alcohol is permitted in VIP hospitality areas, as soon as a catering offer is offered. A distinction which has created for years a system of two weights, two measures applied to each sporting event organized in France in capacity to offer VIP spaces.
“It is the strict application of French law which authorizes catering services including the service of alcohol in hospitality spaces governed by the law on catering”, recalls the organizing committee.
“It is not up to Paris-2024 to comment on this difference in regime but to the legislator in the last resort to define the relevant framework for event organizers”, adds the organizing committee.
If it will not be possible to drink beer in the stands during the 2024 Olympics, this was not the case in London in 2012 and in Rio in 2016. In Tokyo, in 2021, the restrictions linked to the Covid had led the organizers to do without.