Rule 40 in France: limited new opportunities for partners & sponsors of French athletes 

After Germany, Australia, the USA and Great Britain, France recently followed suit to relax its application of Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter. Thus, for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, the members of the French Olympic team will be entitled to authorize their business partners to use their image during the Tokyo Olympic Games, postponed to 2021 due to the global health crisis.

This new rights result from the recent implementation by the French National Olympic Committee (CNOSF) of the new Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter, and more particularly of paragraph 3 of its implementing provisions, which came into force on 26 June 2019, stating:

"Competitors, team officials and other team personnel who participate in the Olympic Games may allow their person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes during the Olympic Games in accordance with the principles determined by the IOC Executive Board".

The CNOSF published its updated guidelines[1] on the application of the new Rule 40 early this year.  The new rules apply to competitors, coaches, instructors or officials who will participate in the Tokyo Olympic Games under the colours of France. This article reviews the main changes from prior years, looking specifically at:

• The limited possibilities for thanking non-Olympic sponsors;
• More flexible rules for Olympic sponsors;
• Do the new guidelines go far enough and how do they compare to other countries?

For readers wanting a background to Rule 40, please see here[2].  For readers wanting information on the new guidelines in other countries, please see here: Germany[3], USA[4], Great Britain[5].