Olympic team disqualified by their own nation ahead of competition in Winter Games

A team taking part in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games has reportedly been disqualified by their own country.

On Sunday, the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games will come to a close.

Gold medals are still on offer, with events such as curling, skiing, ice hockey, and bobsleigh all taking place on the final day of the Games.

Ahead of the four-man bobsleigh event, it was reported that one team had been pulled out of the competition by their own country.

As reported by The Times of Israel, the Israeli four-man bobsleigh team had been disqualified from taking part in the event.

It has been claimed that the Olympic Committee of Israel stated that one athlete 'lied to Olympic officials in order to allow their teammate, Ward Fawarseh, to compete'.

On Saturday, the Israeli team was made up of AJ Edelman, Menachem Chen, Uri Zisman and Omer Katz. On Sunday, Zisman was replaced by Fawarseh on the line-up.

Fawarseh is believed to be listed as an alternate and is only allowed to take part if a member of the team was unwell.

The Winter Olympic Games will end on Sunday. Image: Getty

A statement read: "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.

"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."

It continued: "He admitted to the head of the delegation that he had acted improperly. This forced the Olympic Committee of Israel to withdraw the request and disqualify the move."

SPORTbible has contacted the International Olympic Committee and The Olympic Committee of Israel for comment.

In the end, Germany dominated the final as they secured gold and silver, with Switzerland taking home the bronze.

Meanwhile, Team GB's four-man line-up finished in seventh place.