Olympics Rio 2016: Egyptian booed for not shaking hands with Israeli

El Shehaby, who was reportedly pressured on social media not to show up to fight an Israel because it would shame Islam, was loudly booed by the crowd.

After their bout, the two retook their places in front of the referee – as is customary in judo etiquette – but when Sasson bowed and approached his beaten opponent to shake hands, El Shehaby ignored him.

And while a spokesman for the International Judo Federation insisted judokas are not obligated to shake hands under IJF rules, it still sparked an uproar.

"Nevertheless, after the Games the situation will be studied and analysed to see if further action must be taken," spokesman Nicolas Messner told Reuters.

Sasson will compete in the semi-finals of the +100kg category later on Friday.

A spokesman for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said that sometimes athletes could not bring themselves to shake hands "for a number of reasons".

"Things happen in the heat of the moment that are not acceptable and obviously we would remind all competitors of Olympic values," Mark Adams told a news conference, adding that the spirit of toleration at the Games was exemplified by the athletes' village, where competitors spend time socialising after competitions.

"We believe that the Olympic spirit should be about building bridges, never about erecting walls," he said.

Neither athlete commented afterwards.