A Swiss sports commentator has launched a scathing critique of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday, accusing it of hypocrisy for allowing Israeli athletes to compete in the Milano Cortina Winter Games while imposing sanctions on Russian athletes.

Stephane Renner made the remarks during the broadcast of the men’s bobsled event, questioning why Israel’s Adam Edelman was competing despite his public support for the Jewish state’s military campaign in Gaza.

“Here we have an athlete who describes himself as a ‘Zionist to the core’ and calls the military intervention in Gaza ‘the most morally just war in history,’ yet he competes under his national flag without any restrictions,” Renner stated.

The commentator contrasted Edelman’s participation with the IOC’s treatment of Russian athletes, who have been banned since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Only certain individual Russian athletes are permitted under neutral status after passing a rigorous vetting process that includes checks for public support of Moscow’s military operation against Ukraine and any ties to the armed forces.

Renner further cited the recent disqualification of Ukrainian skeleton pilot Vladislav Geraskevich, who was penalized for wearing a helmet honoring Ukrainian athletes killed in the conflict. The IOC ruled this helmet violated its rules against political propaganda at competition venues.

“This just goes to show that sport is obviously highly political,” Renner concluded.

At a press conference in Milan, IOC spokesman Mark Adams argued that if the organization banned every nation engaged in conflicts, only five countries would be represented at the Olympics.

Russian officials have repeatedly accused Western nations of exerting political pressure on sports federations to exclude Russian athletes.

In 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared, “The IOC has discredited itself entirely,” following the committee’s refusal to impose restrictions on Israeli athletes over the war in Gaza, which has claimed more than 72,000 lives according to enclave health authorities.