The athletes' village for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is seen in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, on July 28, 2021. (Mainichi/Masaru Kurokawa)

       TOKYO -- Drinking and rowdy behavior by a number of individuals at the athletes' village in Tokyo's Chuo Ward has led to their associated National Olympic Committees (NOC) being warned by the organizing committee on Aug. 3, it has emerged.

       The names of the countries and the regions of the NOCs cautioned were not released, but it has been reported that seven to eight were involved. The alcohol-fueled commotion is said to have occurred from the night of July 30 into the early hours of July 31, and officers of the Metropolitan Police Department's Tsukishima Police Station rushed to the scene after a call from concerned parties.

       According to the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and other sources, foreign athletes and others were making noise in the athletes' village park while not wearing masks. Although bringing alcohol into the village is allowed, as part of coronavirus prevention measures athletes are asked to drink alone in their rooms, among other requests.

       The organizing committee cautioned the NOCs on the basis that it was "a totally intolerable situation." One of the NOCs has issued a written apology, and has taken steps to immediately return home athletes whose competitions are over.

       Regarding reports of other incidents involving alcohol, organizing committee spokesperson Masanori Takaya said that while there have been gatherings since the day after the incident, there haven't been situations where people are coming together to talk loudly while drinking, or of them assembling without wearing masks.

       (Japanese original by Yoshikazu Takeuchi, Tokyo City News Department)

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