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Sunday, 14 August 2016

World outrage at Egyptian judoka El Shehaby’s poor sportsmanship in Rio

International media is having the field day you would expect after Egyptian judoka Islam El Shehaby refused to shake Israeli opponent Or Sasson’s hand after losing in an elimination bout last week — to the loud and very deserved boos of the audience (watch, run time: 0:52). El Shehaby had also refused to bow (as is customary at the end of judo matches) until being ordered to do so by the referee. The story is the single dominant piece on Egypt this morning, appearing everywhere from the Times of Israel to Reuters, the Daily Mail and the Telegraph. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) opened a disciplinary probe into El Shehaby’s actions, The International Judo Federation will decide “if any further action should be taken,” while the Egyptian Olympic Committee has since made an official statement (Arabic) saying, “We told Islam El-Shehaby before the game he should fulfill all the sporting behaviors and rules against his Israeli opponent as this is just a game in a major world tournament. What happened after the match was just personal behavior."

El Shehaby was pilloried on social media by Egyptians who objected to his poor sportsmanship, giving birth to memes making fun of his actions. See our Image of the Day.

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