Bobsleigh-Swiss broadcaster pulls commentary questioning presence of Israeli athlete

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 17 : Swiss broadcaster RTS said it had pulled from its website the commentary on an Olympic bobsleigh run in which one reporter questioned at length the presence of an Israeli athlete in Milano Cortina because of his alleged support for Israel's actions in the Gaza war.

The commentary on Radio Television Suisse was aired throughout one of the runs of Israelis Adam Edelman and Chen Menachem in the two-man bobsleigh event on Monday.

The commentator, Stefan Renna, said Edelman had supported the actions of the Israeli military in the Gaza conflict and he suggested that this breached the International Olympic Committee's rules on political statements by athletes at the Games.

"Our journalist wished to question the IOC's policy regarding the statements made by the athlete concerned," RTS said in a statement to Reuters.

"However, although factual, such information may have appeared inappropriate due to its length within the context of a sports commentary. For this reason, we removed the segment from our website last night."

The IOC said on Tuesday that questions about individual comments made by commentators must be directed to broadcasters. The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Renna said in his commentary that Edelman defined himself as a Zionist, posted messages on social media in favour of what Renna referred to as the "genocide" in Gaza and had mocked a "Free Palestine" inscription he had seen on a wall on the sidelines of a World Cup race, among other things.

"One can therefore question his presence in Cortina during these Games," he said, citing IOC rules on athletes' military connections and active support of war, including through