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Alcohol won't be served at stadiums for 2024 Paris Olympics, except in VIP areas

The organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games say alcohol won't be served at stadiums, except in VIP areas. The 2012 London Olympic games, shown here, allowed alcohol sales to fans. File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI
The organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games say alcohol won't be served at stadiums, except in VIP areas. The 2012 London Olympic games, shown here, allowed alcohol sales to fans. File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo

June 27 (UPI) -- Alcohol will not be served to fans at stadiums during the Paris Olympic Games next year, except in catered VIP areas.

The ban on alcohol sales comes from a 1991 law known as Evin's Law, which prohibits alcohol sales in "stadiums, physical education rooms, gymnasiums," and other sports-related venues.

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In a statement sent to USA Today, a spokesperson for the Paris 2024 Olympics said, "Paris 2024 has not sought an exemption from this law. Such an exemption would have required a change in the law for an event the size of the games."

While alcohol was served at the Summer Games in London in 2012 and in Rio Di Janeiro in 2016, it was not available at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo or at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with the exception of VIP areas.

France does have exemptions to the rule, which allow individual organizers to serve alcohol at up to 10 events per year per municipality.

In 2022, fans were allowed to drink inside Paris' Stade de France stadium for the Champions League final and the organizers of the Rugby World Cup have negotiated an exemption for when the event is held later this year.

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The Olympics will feature hundreds of events between July 26 and Aug. 11, 2024.

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