U.S. Figure Skating, USA Hockey and U.S. Speedskating have changed the name of their hospitality suite in Milan amid the potential for protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Winter Olympics, USA Today reported on Sunday.
The three governing bodies had called their venue “The Ice House” but are rechristening it “The Winter House,” the newspaper wrote, citing a well-informed source.
“Our hospitality concept was designed to be a private space free of distractions where athletes, their families, and friends can come together to celebrate the unique experience of the Winter Games,” the three organizations said in a joint statement to USA Today. “This name captures that vision and connects to the season and the event.”
The Games are set to begin this week after recent protests erupted in Italy over the presence of ICE agents at the Olympics. The agents would be based in a control room and not operating on the streets, The Associated Press previously reported.
Protests in Milan were partly aimed at the ICE force sent to protect the U.S. delegation and “what many of those present said they saw as creeping fascism in the United States,” the wire service wrote.
