A judo champion has been suspended for five months for making the sign of the cross during the Olympics this summer . Nemanja Majdov has been suspended by the International Judo Federation (IJF) for ‘having shown a clear religious sign when entering the field of play’. The 28-year-old sign of the cross before his match against round of 16 match against Theodoros Tselidis in July.

The religious gesture is prohibited under Article 3 of the IJF Code of Ethics. The Serb, who won the 2023 European Championship and the World Championship in 2017, and was the runner-up in the -90kg category at the World Championship this year, is now suspended from participating in all tournaments, camps, and preparations for the next five months. Following the decision, Majdov said on Instagram that he was ‘sorry that such a beautiful and difficult sport like judo has fallen to such things’.

🇷🇠̧🚠̈ SERBIA. El judoka serbio Nemanja Majdov ha recibido una suspensiÃ3n de 5 meses por hacer la señal de la cruz antes de su combate en los Juegos Olímpicos de París. ⁉ï ̧ ¿Cristianofobia? pic.

twitter.com/JQtGZ6kqcr Speaking about his Christian faith, Majdov said: ‘The Lord has given me everything, both for me personally and for my career, and he is number 1 for me and I am proud of that. And that will not change under any circumstances.

‘Glory to Him and thanks for everything.’ His post read: ’15 days ago I received a decision that I was suspe.