A video that was posted on YouTube on Friday shows Egyptian judo fighter, Islam El Shehaby, refuses to shake hands with his Israeli opponent Or Sasson at the first round of the Rio Olympic Games. After Or Sasson of Israel defeated Islam El Shehaby of Egypt, Sasson offered his hand, as is customary in judo.
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El Shehaby instead backed away, shaking his head.
Judo athletes generally bow and shake hands after the bout as a sign of respect for each other. The referee ordered El Shehaby to return to the ceremonial position, and he gave the smallest possible bow.
International Judo Federation spokesman Nicolas Messner isn’t too concerned about the lack of a handshake on this occasion.
The Egyptian Olympic Committee warned El Shehaby that his citizenship would be revoked if he withdrew from the bout, but fans still made their feelings known on social media.
“Nevertheless, after the Games the situation will be studied and analysed to see if further action must be taken”, he told Reuters.
El-Shehaby was reportedly under pressure from Islamic groups and Egyptian nationalists to drop out of the match with Sasson.
El Shelby had been pressured back in Egypt not to compete against an Israeli at all.
Failure to shake hands with an opponent after a fight is considered a major breach of judo etiquette.
Ofir Gendelman, Arabic language spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called the incident “shocking”.
The judo incident is not, unfortunately, an isolated display of anti-Israeli sentiment at the games.
“Egypt will cry [if you play]”, said a TV host on an Islamist-leaning network. “Egypt will be sad and you will be seen as a traitor and a normaliser in the eyes of your people”.
He wrote that El Shehaby’s move backfired, and the Israeli athlete ended up with more sympathy.
The 34-year-old Egyptian athlete has won 16 gold, 15 silver, and 19 bronze medals during his career, ranking highly in various championships world and Arab championships.
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But the Saudi Olympic delegation tweeted that Fahmy had suffered injuries in her hand during training and did not quit for political reasons.
