By Andrea Mandala
MILAN, Feb 21 (Reuters) – Italy’s state broadcaster RAI was forced to apologise to the Jewish community on Saturday after an off‑air remark advising its producers to “avoid” the Israeli crew was broadcast before coverage of the Four-Man bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
The head of RAI’s sports division had already resigned earlier in the week after his error-ridden commentary at the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony two weeks ago triggered a revolt among its journalists.
On Saturday, viewers heard “Let’s avoid crew number 21, which is the Israeli one” and then “no, because …” before the sound was cut off.
“I firmly condemn the statements made today by a RAI journalist regarding the Israeli bobsleigh delegation at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics,” said Jonathan Peled, Israel’s ambassador, on social media.
“There should be no room in sport for incitement to hatred, discrimination based on national, cultural, or religious beliefs, and any offensive rhetoric.
“We are confident that the RAI management will take all necessary measures to ensure that similar incidents are not repeated,” he said.
RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said the incident represented a “serious” breach of the principles of impartiality, respect and inclusion that should guide the public broadcaster.
He added that RAI had opened an internal inquiry to swiftly determine any responsibility and any potential disciplinary procedures.
In a separate statement RAI’s board of directors condemned the remark as “unacceptable”. The board apologised to the Jewish community, the athletes involved and all viewers who felt offended.
RAI is the country’s largest media organisation and operates national television, radio and digital news services.
The union representing RAI journalists, Usigrai, had said Paolo Petrecca’s opening ceremony commentary had dealt “a serious blow” to the company’s credibility.
His missteps included misidentifying venues and public figures, and making comments about national teams that were widely criticised.
(Reporting by Andrea Mandalà; Editing by Alison Williams and Pritha Sarkar)
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