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Call to Dutch Olympic athletes: do not agree with the new deal between the Dutch Olympic Committee and Heineken

15 October 2019

Call to Dutch Olympic athletes: do not agree with the new deal between the Dutch Olympic Committee and Heineken Today it was announced that there will be again a Holland Heineken House in Tokyo during the 2020 Olympic Games. This time it will be part of TeamNL Tokyo Center, a temporary Holland pavilion, where Dutch companies can present themselves during the Games in Japan. Heineken continues to organize in Holland Heineken House the festive prize ceremonies for the Dutch Olympians who won a medal. Those ceremonies are broadcasted on Dutch television and viewed and experienced by young and old. By this they are unwittingly the target group of sophisticated alcohol promotion.

Holland Heineken House conflicts with Prevention Agreement
The Dutch Institute for Alcohol Policy STAP is of the opinion that the continuation of the deal with Heineken does not fit within the agreements made by State Secretary for Health, Welfare and Sport Paul Blokhuis on behalf of the government with more than 70 social parties within the framework of the National Prevention Agreement. It includes the agreement that the Dutch brewers and the sports sector would make this year a plan around the marketing activities at major sporting events. The purpose of that part of the Prevention Agreement is to make the connection between sport and alcohol less clear. STAP believes that the continued existence of Holland Heineken House is in conflict with this objective. STAP: "Beer promotion and celebrating a sports performance are in Holland Heineken House inextricably connected."

Call to Dutch Olympic athletes
STAP calls the Olympic athletes to speak out against the continuation of Holland Heineken House. After all, they are forced to participate in Heineken's marketing activities, even if this conflicts with their personal views on alcohol consumption or with the wishes of their private sponsors. STAP: "Let the Dutch Olympic Committee be fully responsible for the honouring of our Olympic medal winners. Doing so, the Dutch Olympic Committee shows all its members and in fact the whole of the Netherlands, that they take the Prevention Agreement with State Secretary Paul Blokhuis seriously."

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Dutch Institute for Alcohol Policy STAP
P.O. Box 9769
3506 GT Utrecht
The Netherlands
T: +31 (0)30-6565041
F: +31 (0)30-6565043
E: info@stap.nl