Egyptian Judo Fighter Refuses to Shake Israeli Opponent's Hand After Olympic Loss

staff@people.com (Tiare Dunlap)
Updated
Egyptian Olympian Booted Over His Handshake Snub of Israeli Opponent

Egyptian judoka Islam El Shehaby was loudly booed on Friday for refusing to shake the hand of his Israeli opponent, Or Sasson, after a first-round loss in Rio.

Sasson, who is ranked 5th in the world, defeated El Shehaby with two throws with about 90 seconds remaining in the bout.

After the loss, El Shehaby remained flat on his back for a beat before standing to take his place before Sasson, who extended his hand. El Shehaby then backed away, shaking his head, as Sasson moved forward in an attempt to shake hands.

Egyptian judoka Islam El Shehaby loses to Israeli Or Sasson, refuses to shake hands in a major breach of etiquette. pic.twitter.com/kOU1oAd5YW

— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin) August 12, 2016





Judokas typically bow or shake hands as a sign of respect at the beginning and end of a match. El Shahaby's refusal to do so marks an extreme breach of Judo etiquette.

"That is extremely rare in judo," the American coach Jimmy Pedro told the New York Times. "It is especially disrespectful considering it was a clean throw and a fair match. It was completely dishonorable and totally unsportsmanlike on the part of the Egyptian."

The International Judo Federation told The Associated Press that the fact that the two nations even agreed to the fight was a sign of progress. Egypt was the first country in the Arab world to sign a peace treaty and normalize relations with Israel after decades of fighting.

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"This is already a big improvement that Arabic countries accept to (fight) Israel," IJF spokesman Nicolas Messner said in an email to the AP.

He added that El Shahaby's "attitude will be reviewed after the games to see if any further action should be taken."

In the lead-up to the match, El Shahaby came under pressure from nationalist commentators in Egypt to withdraw.



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"My son watch out, don't be fooled, or fool yourself thinking you will play with the Israeli athlete to defeat him and make Egypt happy," Mataz Matar, a TV host in Al-Sharq Islamist-leaning network said Thursday. "Egypt will cry; Egypt will be sad and you will be seen as a traitor and a normalizer in the eyes of your people."









El Shahaby's refusal to shake hands provoked a strong reaction within the stadium in Rio, and on social media.