IOC board member apologizes for linking Russian ban to Nazis

PYEONGCHANG -- IOC board member Gian Franco Kasper apologized Thursday for comparing a ban on Russia from the 2018 Olympics to persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany.

"It was an inappropriate and insensitive comment," Kasper, the long-time International Ski Federation president, said in a statement.

"I apologize unreservedly for any offence I have caused. I am truly sorry," Kasper said in the statement released by the IOC.