His words had created important policy. This Thursday, the Italian public audiovisual service Rai announced the resignation of its sports director following his verbal slip-ups during the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games. Paolo Petrecca “will leave his position at the end of the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games”, according to internal sources.
Rai sports journalists announced a three-day strike after the end of the event on February 22, citing “the worst humiliation of Rai Sport”. During the parade on Friday (Feb. 6), Petrecca described Spanish athletes as “always sexy” and said of Chinese athletes that “naturally, a lot of them (have) phones in their hands.” Comments widely derided on the Internet.
The channel’s sports director also confused, during the live broadcast, the Italian actress Matilda De Angelis with Mariah Carey but also Kirsty Coventry, president of the International Olympic Committee, with the daughter of the Italian president. During the ceremony, he also incorrectly referred to Milan’s iconic San Siro stadium as the “Olympic stadium”, which is located in Rome.
Appointments to key Rai posts are often seen as political and Paolo Petrecca is seen as being close to far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “The Olympic Games are an essential moment of responsibility for public television. Instead, Rai offered its worst version: the one we know all too well, TeleMeloni,” reacted the Democratic Party (PD, center-left), in opposition.
