Religious gestures are prohibited at the Olympic Games.
Serbian judoka Nemanja Majdov has been disqualified for five months for violating religious codes at the Paris Olympics.
This is reported by Serbian media.
The sanction was related to the fact that the athlete crossed himself before the fight, which was regarded as as a violation in the context of compliance with the rules and regulations of the competition.
28-year-old Maidov confirmed on social media that he received a letter from the International Judo Federation (IJF) stating his disqualification for five months for his religious gesture before the fight with Greek athlete Theodoros Tselidis at the Olympic Games.
“15 days ago I received a decision that the World Judo Federation suspended me for five months for violating their religious codes. More precisely, for the fact that I crossed myself before entering the fight at the Olympic Games. I was banned from participating in all tournaments, training camps and preparatory gatherings. True, in the letter of disciplinary action I did not want to apologize for crossing myself, although I did not even know what the punishment could be,” the judoka said.
According to information from open sources, the athlete had already received similar warnings in 2018 and 2022.
Earlier, Nemanja Majdov caused a scandal by sharply criticizing the judges after his elimination from the Paris 2024 Olympics. He was eliminated from the judo competition at the Paris Olympics in the 1/8 finals.
Earlier it was reported that Algerian boxer Iman Khelif, wrongly accused of being transgender, received a gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.