In a shock move, Israel’s bobsleigh team was barred by Israeli Olympic officials from completing its competition on Sunday in the four-man event at the 2026 Winter Games.

In a statement to The Times of Israel early Sunday, the Olympic Committee of Israel said it disqualified the team from competing after one of its athletes lied to Olympic officials in order to allow their teammate, Ward Fawarseh, to compete in their stead.

Israel competed Saturday in the first two runs of the event with the team consisting of AJ Edelman, Menachem Chen, Uri Zisman and Omer Katz. As of Sunday morning, the team was still slated to compete according to the official schedule, but with Edelman, Chen, Fawarseh and Katz.

Had he taken to the ice, Fawarseh would have been Israel’s first-ever Druze Olympian. But he went to the Games officially as an alternate, and wouldn’t be allowed to compete unless another member of the team was unwell.

“The bobsleigh team asked to include Ward, the substitute, in the competition. According to the rules, this is only permitted if one of the athletes is injured or ill,” said the Olympic Committee of Israel. “In order to make this possible, one of the team members — encouraged by his teammates — declared that he was unwell. He even went for a medical examination and signed an affidavit so that the Olympic Committee could request approval for a substitution.”

Afterward, the OCI said, Zisman “admitted to the head of the delegation that he had acted improperly. This forced the Olympic Committee of Israel........

© The Times of Israel