Two Judo silver medallists, Vazha Margvelashvili and Lasha Shavdatuashvili, were stripped of their Tokyo 2020 accreditation for leaving the Olympic Village.
The penalty for violating the strict coronavirus rules was imposed by the organising committee, confirmed an official from the Georgian National Olympic Committee.
The team members are forbidden from leaving their accommodation except for training and competing. However, the two sportsmen set out to meet “one of their good acquaintances” living in Japan, said the Georgian NOC official.
This is the first case of athletes being punished for breaking strict anti-infection rules since the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games began.
“When they went outside of the village, no one stopped them at the exit. So they thought that they could go outside,” the official told AFP.
The Georgian NOC official said the pair had their accreditation revoked on Friday, but they have now left Japan to return home.
Earlier on Saturday, the Tokyo 2020 organiser said they had taken disciplinary action on Friday against at least one Olympics participant without revealing how many people were involved or their identity.
“Since the accreditation has been revoked, (they) can no longer have access to Tokyo 2020 facilities,” organising committee spokesman Masa Takaya told reporters.
“It is impermissible that a person goes out from the Olympic Village for sightseeing,” he added.
