The director of RaiSport, Paolo Petrecca, has handed his resignation to Giampaolo Rossi, chief executive of Rai, following a series of errors during commentary on the opening ceremony of Milano Cortina 2026.
Rai confirmed on Thursday that Petrecca will leave his position at the end of the Winter Olympics. In the interim, senior journalist and presenter Marco Lollobrigida will take over leadership of the sports division.
The controversy erupted after the RaiSport coverage of the 6 February opening ceremony drew widespread criticism from viewers and staff. Rai’s sports journalists withdrew their bylines from reports last Friday in protest at the handling of the broadcast, signalling internal discontent within the public broadcaster.
Petrecca began the live commentary by welcoming audiences to the Stadio Olimpico, rather than Milan’s San Siro stadium, where the ceremony took place. He then committed a string of further mistakes during the broadcast.
Among the most notable errors, he confused Italian actress Matilda De Angelis with US singer Mariah Carey. He also misidentified International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry as Laura, the daughter of Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
The mistakes quickly circulated on social media and drew criticism from opposition politicians and media commentators, who questioned the standards of the state broadcaster’s Olympic coverage.
Rai management moved to contain the fallout, confirming Petrecca’s resignation while emphasising continuity in its sports programming during the Games.
