During the first three days of the competitions Nurali Emomali of Tajikistan took to the mat for his bout with Israel’s Baruch Shmailov, but walked off without shaking hands after winning their contest in the men’s -66 kg category. Emomali’s snub followed Morocco’s Abderrahmane Boushita, who also refused to shake hands with Shmailov.

The biggest case, however, happened on 29 July, The International Judo Federation (IJF) announced that the Algerian athlete Messaoud Redouane Dris had failed to make the weight. The whole point is that Dris would have to face Tohar Butbul from Israel in the first round. 

Three years ago another Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine refused to fight against Butbul and was disqualified. The IJF promised to start a full investigation of the situation with Dris after the Olympic Games.

Israel’s officials and the media criticised Dris, calling “disgrace” his behaviour, but Butbul sent a message of peace. 

“I respect him,” Butbul said of Dris. “He’s a very good judoka. He’s a very good athlete. I wish maybe sometime we would have peace in the Middle East so I could go to training in Algeria, and he can go to training in Israel, and we can go to the tatami together and do the fight. Maybe sometime I can shake his hand.

“I think the Algerian athletes and all the Muslim athletes cannot go to the fight with Israeli athletes,” Butbul said. “I think they are the victims in this thing. They won’t let them compete, even though they are athletes. I really wanted to fight with him, and it did not not happen. Maybe next Olympics we will meet again, and we can do it,” concluded the athlete.