A quick look at the changing rules around Olympic athletes and sponsorship

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A quick look at the changing rules around Olympic athletes and sponsorship

Donna Spencer The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, January 7, 2020 11:20AM EST

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir lead team Canada into the Olympic stadium at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Feb. 9, 2018. (Paul Chiasson / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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The Canadian Olympic Committee released its marketing guidelines Tuesday for athletes and their personal sponsors during the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo from July 24 through Aug. 9.

The International Olympic Committee allows for a more liberal interpretation of Rule 40 that governs athlete engagement with non-Olympic sponsors during the Games.

Canadian athletes can:

continue to appear in long-standing (minimum 90 days before Games), generic advertising campaigns of personal sponsors with no escalation during the Games.
thank personal sponsors during the Games and receive congratulatory messages from personal sponsors.

Canadian athletes can't:

appear in advertising campaigns or on social media posts of non-Olympic sponsors that include intellectual property such as the Olympic rings, Games images or Canadian Olympic team trademarks.