The head of Italian public broadcaster Roy’s sports department has resigned over a gaffe-strewn commentary that sparked protests among journalists at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
A source at Roy confirmed that Paolo Petreka, who was appointed as Roy Sport Director last year, handed in his notice on Thursday after a board meeting.
The controversy was seized upon by members of the Italian opposition, citing Petrecka’s close loyalty to the government of Georgia Meloni as an example of prioritizing political affiliation over merit at a broadcaster they accused of right-wing bias.
Commenting on the opening ceremony, Petrecka welcomed viewers to Rome’s Stadio Olimpico instead of Milan’s San Siro, where the event took place where Italian actress Matilda De Angelis was mistaken for Mariah Carey and International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry for Laura Mattarella, daughter of the Italian president.
Petrecka, already banned from presenting coverage of the closing ceremony, failed to recognize two famous members of the Italian women’s volleyball team participating in the torch relay, and commented on the Chinese athletes who were “always very hot” and “naturally … with phones in their hands”.
The gaffes have drawn widespread criticism and protests from Roy Sport journalists, who have suspended bylines from coverage of the games and plan to strike for three days after the event. Journalists from Roy’s news networks withdrew their bylines from work last Friday in solidarity with their sports colleagues.
CDR, the internal union representing Rai journalists, previously said its members were “embarrassed” by Petrecka’s coverage.
Corriere della Sera newspaper reported that Petrecka will step down at the end of the Milan Cortina Olympics, which conclude in Verona on Sunday, and will be replaced by Marco Lollobrigida, one of the broadcaster’s established sports presenters.
“Petrekka’s resignation from Roy Sport is necessary, but it is too late,” said Stefano Graziano, a politician from the center-left Democratic Party who sits on Roy’s parliamentary oversight committee.
Graziano says that Petrecka is a “symbol” of what he calls “telemeloni”.
He said: “This approach has ultimately undermined the power of the news industry and, in general, the entire Roy system. What is needed now is a real break.”
In an unprecedented move in 2024, news anchors on Roy’s three major TV channels read a union statement condemning the Meloni administration for “turning Roy into a government megaphone.”
Before taking office in October 2022, Meloni often accused Roy of being left-wing.
