The International Olympic Committee set up a disciplinary commission to look into the hand-shake snub.
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Prior to the fight, El Shahaby had come under pressure from Islamist-leaning and nationalist voices in Egypt to withdraw entirely. El Shehaby didn’t back down, even after the referee called him back to the mat – he simply gave a quick head nod before stepping off the floor again.
It is more disheartening than anything to see the strong animosity between these rival countries play out in this way.
Female Judoka star Yarden Gerbi became the toast of Israel by claiming the country’s first Olympic medal in eight years when she took a bronze in the women’s under-63kg competition on Tuesday. While the official word was that he was injured, there was speculation in the Israeli media and elsewhere that Fahmy’s true motivation was to avoid competing with an Israeli.
El-Shehabi refused to shake hands after losing to the Israeli; this was jeered loudly by Israeli spectators.
“Things happen in the heat of the moment that are not acceptable and obviously we would remind all competitors of Olympic values”.
However, new rumours emerged a few days ago, suggesting that Shehaby planned not to shake his Israeli counterpart’s hand at the end of the fight, which is common civility during sporting encounters. “But for personal reasons, you can’t ask me to shake the hand of anyone from this State, especially in front of the whole world”, he said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry even watched the European soccer championships on TV with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Jerusalem in July.
Unfortunately, this is far from the first such incident that we’ve seen at these Games.
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On Sunday, the International Olympic Committee reprimanded members of the Lebanese delegation for refusing to allow Israeli team members to board an official bus to the Games opening ceremony on Friday.
