This is an opinion piece in Dagens Nyheter. The author is responsible for the opinions in the article.
“Good evening from the Olympic Stadium.” This is how Rai Sports boss Paolo Petrecca began the opening of the Winter Olympics. It’s just a shame that the ceremony didn’t take place there but at the San Siro stadium in Milan.
Just a few minutes after the first blunder, Italian actress Matilda De Angelis entered the stage, but Paolo Petrecca introduced her as the world-famous singer Mariah Carey. A little later he said that the president of the International Olympic Committee, Kirsty Coventry, was the daughter of President Sergio Mattarella.
Didn’t know either He is once again the star and torchbearer of the Italian men’s and women’s national volleyball teams. As participants marched in from different countries, Petrecca said things like the Brazilians had “rhythm in their blood” and the Spanish were “hot.” When the rapper Ghali, who has publicly advocated for Palestine and has many critics of the Italian right, appeared, Paolo Petrecca never mentioned him by name.
The criticism afterwards was devastating. Paolo Petrecca was appointed as the new managing director of Rai Sport in March 2025 after failing miserably in the same role at Rai News. He took the leadership on the recommendation of the Brothers of Italy, the country’s largest party, whose leader is Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
In Italy, political control of state television Rai is nothing new. From 1975, the major political parties each received one channel. Rai 1 belonged to the Christian Democrats and Rai 2 to the socialist party PSI. In 1979, Rai 3 was added, which became the station of the Communist Party PCI. This lasted until the early 1990s, when Italy’s entire political system collapsed following a major corruption scandal.
That again opened for Silvio Berlusconi, whose entry into the political scene led to critical voices and social programs being replaced by football and casual entertainment in Rai.
The Meloni government has been criticized for going further than ever before in controlling managers, journalists and the news outlet. The term “TeleMeloni”, Meloni TV, has become a concept
Left and center governments have also exerted political influence on Rai. Every change of government in Italy means new managers, profiles and programs. But the Meloni government has been criticized for going further than ever before in controlling managers, journalists and news sources. The term “TeleMeloni”, Meloni TV, has become a concept.
There is anger in the Rai Sports editorial team and the union has announced a three-day strike as soon as the Olympics are over. All features will be broadcast without the reporters’ names in protest. A communiqué was also included in the news broadcasts, which stated, among other things: “The editorial team of Rai Sport is deeply ashamed of the decision of its top boss to comment on the opening of the Olympic Games, which has caused serious damage to the reputation of Rai’s employees.” Italy’s Social Democrats Partito Democratico are now calling for Paolo Petrecca’s resignation.
The Olympic opening is said to have been commented on by the experienced sports journalist Auro Bulbarelli. He is now back in office and will commentate on the closing ceremony from Verona.
According to Italian media, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has completely withdrawn her hand from Paolo Petrecca and news broke on Thursday morning that he was resigning. The new acting head of Rai Sport will be the previous deputy head Marco Lollobrigida.
Read more about the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Games.
