Drunk Athletes, Vomited And Harassed Passengers On Plane, Australian Olympic Committee: Damaging Team Reputation

JAKARTA - A top Australian Olympic Committee official said the behavior of Olympic athletes from Australia who was drunk, vomiting, and disturbing passengers on the flight home from Tokyo had embarrassed the entire team.

As New Zealand athletes faced accusations of the same abusive behavior on their flight back home, Australia's chef de mission called the behavior of his team members "completely unacceptable".

"I'm very disappointed about this because some people are ruining the reputation of a very strong team, a team that represents us here with great pride", said Ian Chesterman.

Chesterman confirmed that Japan Airlines wrote to the Australian Olympic Committee complaining about the behavior of the athletes on the flight that arrived in Sydney on Friday.

"JAL said team members were excessively drunk, did not respond to cabin crew requests, and disturbed other passengers", Chesterman said.

"This behavior is clearly unacceptable and does not meet the standards set by this team".

Chesterman said at least one athlete vomited in the toilet, rendering the toilet unusable during the 10-hour flight. However, he could not confirm reports that one of the Olympic athletes had forcefully opened the plane's alcohol cupboard after his request for a drink was denied by the cabin crew.

Chesterman said there were 49 athletes from nine sports on the flight, but the troublemakers were all from the men's rugby and soccer teams.

Chesterman said the sport's governing bodies (rugby and football) would determine what penalties were imposed.

"They take it very seriously, and it's important to us", Chesterman said.

He added that athletes faced "unquestionable tension and stress" with the strict coronavirus restrictions during the Olympics.

New Zealand Olympic athletes have also been accused of misbehaving on flights from Tokyo to Christchurch, including being drunk and violating COVID-19 protocols by throwing used masks at cabin crew.

The news site stuff.co.nz reported the athletes became so noisy that one of the pilots got out of the cockpit and told them to sit down.

The New Zealand Olympic Committee defends its athletes.

"We can understand that after years of training, and the Olympics being postponed, some athletes would like to celebrate with their teammates before entering the two-week MIQ (quarantine) period", said New Zealand Olympic Committee spokeswoman Ashley Abbott.

"We have not received any complaints from the airline".

Abbott did not respond when asked if alleged breaches of the coronavirus rules were being investigated.