A lawyer with the Association of National Olympic Committees has detailed the limits on athletes promoting their sponsors within new guidelines for the 2020 Tokyo Games.
ANOC legal commission chairman Michael Chambers has told the group’s 206 members that only generic advertising is allowed.
He says advertising by an athlete’s personal sponsor “can’t use Olympic symbols, the rings, your emblem, references to the Olympics.”
Athletes have long wanted the easing of Olympic Charter Rule 40, which restricts use of their names and images during the games. The International Olympic Committee says this protects the value of the official sponsor deals that fund sports and the games.
After a German federal agency ruled in February that Rule 40 was “too far-reaching … abusive conduct,” the International Olympic Committee said national bodies could oversee new athlete agreements.
The U.S. Olympic Committee’s agreement this month includes now letting athletes thank their sponsors.
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