Competitors in the Japanese martial art typically bow or shake hands at the beginning and end of a match as a sign of respect.
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Sasson won against Egypt’s Islam El Shehaby in the opening round of the competition Friday, and then reached the semifinals by defeating Maciej Sarnacki of Poland in the round of 16 and Roy Meyer of the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.
The duo took their places in front of the referee, after the match, when El Shehaby backed away from Sasson’s outstretched hand.
El Shehaby had faced continuous pressure from back home, after the host of an Islamist-leaning TV network had asked him to pull out of the match entirely. They point to the fact that Israel has blocked the chief of the Palestinian Olympic team from leaving the besieged Gaza strip for the Rio games. He said there was no obligation to shake hands, but to bow is mandatory.
In response, a spokesperson for the International Olympic Committee said they “will review the case to figure out exactly what happened”.
The International Judo Federation told Reuters that judokas are not obligated to shake hands, only to bow, but it would look into whether any action should be taken.
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident “shocking”, writing on Twitter it “goes against the spirit of Rio 2016” and that “sports are not the field for politics and extremism”.
Having been taught that one of the first principles of judo was to respect one’s opponent, Sasson said it was “a little bit weird” that El Shehaby declined to shake his hand, although the gesture didn’t affect him.
There have been other incidents involving Muslim athletes refusing to compete against or be around Israeli athletes in Rio.
Earlier in the tournament, the Lebanese Olympic team refused to share a bus with its Israeli counterpart. “It happens between friends and he’s not my friend”, L’Esprit du Judo quoted El Shehaby as saying.
The 32-year-old had been reportedly pressured by his fans and followers on social media not to not compete in the match against the Israeli as it would shame Islam.
He wrote that El Shehaby’s move backfired, and the Israeli athlete ended up with more sympathy.
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Egypt was the first Arab power to make peace with Israel, in 1979, but the treaty remains unpopular among many Egyptians.
