Journalists from Italy’s RaiSport on Tuesday announced a three-day strike to begin after the Winter Olympics and said they would withhold bylines on Olympics coverage, among other measures.
The protest follows a chaotic opening ceremony broadcast by RaiSport director Paolo Petrecca, who made several gaffes during commentary. Standing at Milan’s San Siro, Petrecca began by welcoming viewers to the “Stadio Olympico,” a name associated with Rome’s Olympic Stadium. He then said “The show continues with Mariah Carey” while the cameras were on Matilda de Angelis, an Italian actress in her twenties. De Angelis later posted a photo on Instagram captioned “PLEASE, CALL ME MARIAH.”
Petrecca also misidentified IOC President Kirsty Coventry as the daughter of Italian President Sergio Mattarella when Coventry entered the stadium alongside Mattarella. He made further remarks that drew criticism, commenting that Spanish athletes were “always very hot” and noting that many Chinese team members “have phones in their hands.”
Rai’s editorial committee, the Comitato di Redazione, said in a statement that staff had been left “embarrassed” and that the channel’s coverage had reached its worst-ever level during one of the most anticipated events. The committee announced the byline boycott during the Games and the planned three-day strike afterwards to “make our voices heard.”
Opposition politicians seized on the mistakes as evidence of alleged politicization at Rai. Petrecca, formerly head of RaiNews, has previously faced accusations of bias in favor of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The Democratic Party said public service broadcasting had offered its “worst version” and referred to the channel as “TeleMeloni.”
A Rai spokesperson told The Associated Press that Petrecca had been removed from the commentary team for the February 22 closing ceremony after a meeting that included Rai’s CEO Giampaolo Rossi.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery