The drunken antics of the New Zealand Olympians, who vomited and disturbed the passengers on the flight from Tokyo, humiliated the whole team, said on Wednesday one of the high-ranking officials, reports www.ndtv.com.
As New Zealand athletes have been accused of such boorish behavior on the return flight, the chef of the Australian Olympic Mission called the behavior of his team members “absolutely unacceptable.”
“I’m very upset about this because a few people are damaging the reputation of a very strong unit, a unit that is very proud to represent us here,” said Ian Chesterman.
Chesterman confirmed that Japan Airlines had written a complaint to the Australian Olympic Committee about the behavior of athletes on a flight that arrived in Sydney on Friday.
“JAL reported that team members were overly drunk, did not respond to flight attendants’ requests and interfered with other passengers,” he said.
“Such behavior is clearly unacceptable and does not meet the standards set by this team.”
Chesterman said at least one athlete was bored in the toilet, making him unfit for the rest of the 10-hour flight, but could not confirm reports that the Olympians raided the plane’s alcohol cabinet after being denied extra drinks.
He said there were 49 athletes from nine sports on the flight, but all the offenders were from men’s rugby and football teams.
Chesterman said that the governing bodies of sports will determine what penalties will be imposed on athletes.
“They take it very seriously, which is important to us,” he said, adding that the athletes faced “undeniable tension and stress” due to strict restrictions on the coronavirus during the Games.
The New Zealand Olympians were also accused of misconduct during a flight from Tokyo to Christchurch, including drinking and violating Covid-19 restrictions by throwing used masks at flight attendants.
The news site stuff.co.nz reported that the athletes were so angry that one of the pilots got out of the cockpit and told them to calm down.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee has defended its athletes.
“We can understand that after several years of training and a very successful and lengthy Olympic campaign, some athletes wanted to celebrate this with their teammates before imposing a two-week quarantine,” said NZOC spokeswoman Ashley Abbott.
“We have not received any complaints from the airline.”
Abbott did not answer questions about whether coronavirus violations were being investigated.