The Japanese Olympic Committee has decided to give athletes broader control of their own images for commercial purposes amid growing calls for approval of their "professional" activities.
The JOC's new guidelines allow athletes to be engaged in commercial activities for all businesses except the official sponsors involved in the committee's marketing program built around image control of popular Olympians.
The JOC initiated the program in the late 1970s as part of a fundraising effort for the development of Olympic athletes.
Under the program, the JOC takes full control of images of the athletes registered with the sports federations sanctioned by the national Olympic body.
Only the JOC's official sponsors can use the athletes' images in their TV commercials and advertisements.
The program has earned the JOC a total of 7.65 billion yen and the current scheme covering 2001-2004 has thus far raked in 1.2 billion yen.
The latest move came as a compromise designed to defend the sponsors' rights and satisfy top-class Japanese athletes hoping to unshackle themselves from the JOC's control and thus enjoy greater financial gains.
Since Olympic marathon champion Naoko Takahashi was given the nod to act freely beyond the JOC's marketing framework in April last year, a handful of athletes have attempted to follow in her footsteps.