Photo/Illutration A track and field test meet held with no spectators at the National Stadium on May 9. The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee decided on June 22 not to allow the sale of alcohol at competition venues. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Tokyo Olympic organizers have decided against allowing alcohol to be sold at Olympic venues after coming under heavy fire for considering it as the country grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have decided to bar sales of alcohol (at event venues) as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus based on recommendations by health experts,” Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee, said at a news conference on the morning of June 23.

Bringing alcohol to competition venues will also be prohibited.

The non-alcohol policy will be spelled out in the guidelines for spectators attending the events.

The committee’s announcement comes after news media reported that organizers were weighing allowing consumption of alcohol under certain conditions.

The reports triggered a storm of criticism from lawmakers both in the ruling coalition and the opposition bloc, health care workers and users of social media.

In Tokyo, bars were allowed to serve alcohol from June 21, for the first time in about two months, but under some restrictions, as the capital is still keeping many anti-coronavirus measures in place to combat COVID-19.

The committee, by considering approval of the sale of alcohol, appeared to be treating the Tokyo Games entirely different from other events, said Haruo Ozaki, chairman of the Tokyo Medical Association.

“If the Summer Games are allowed to operate with exceptions even as the public is still being urged to follow various restrictions, it will become increasingly difficult to build anticipation for the Olympics,” he said at a news conference on June 22.

Asahi Breweries Ltd., an official sponsor that has rights to sell its beverages at Olympic venues, said June 23 that it is supportive of the committee’s decision regarding alcohol.

“After news reports on June 22 that the organizing committee is leaning toward allowing alcohol, we suggested that it should not be sold,” the company said. “We take the committee’s policy concerning alcohol as being only natural, given that restrictions are imposed on bars and restaurants to serve alcohol to fight the coronavirus.”

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