International, Religion

Fall from Grace: Olympian Suspended for Making Sign of the Cross

International Judo Federation (IJF) has suspended a Serbian judo champion for five months from any international competitions for making the sign of the cross after his match in the Paris Olympic games this year. It is another bizarre controversy from the games, including France barring French Muslim athletes from wearing hijabs in competition.

Nemanja Majdov, 28, has been told that he was found guilty of “having shown a clear religious sign when entering the field of play.”

In a statement on Instagram, Majdov  added:

“in the defense letter of the disciplinary proceedings, I did not want to apologize… and of course, I did not, nor will I ever, although I did not even know what the punishment could be. 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. Nothing new for me personally, just a new page in my career and a new life experience. I’m sorry that such a beautiful and difficult sport like judo has fallen to such things. God gave me a great career, 7 European and three world medals. When I started, I dreamed of winning at least one big medal and thus succeeding in my life and the life of my family, who sacrificed everything for my career. He gave us a lot more and even borrowed too much so that I would bow my head in front of them when it came either-or.”

The athlete was previously warned not to make the sign of the cross. The IJF said that this is simply an effort to ensure its members “feel respected and accepted.”

I am not sure how that tracks. Athletes expressing their faith does not condone other faiths or belittle competitors. It shows that their accomplishments are not their own. They may want to embrace their friends, their country, or their faith.

The irony is crushing after the Olympics began with what many viewed as irreligious or disrespectful imagery for many religious people.

I fail to see how denying such gestures advances the game or its values. Part of these games is to respect our different values and cultures. While that justifiably means that the games do not officially endorse or demonstrate religious values, individual athletes should be able to acknowledge their faith in such small gestures. If we want to embrace the diversity of our world, the solution is not to bar expression of diverse values.

It appears that faith may move mountains, but not the Olympics.

202 thoughts on “Fall from Grace: Olympian Suspended for Making Sign of the Cross”

  2. My first martial art when I was 16 yo was Kodokan Judo. In spite of the fact that, to the best of my knowledge, their is no Christian influence in the heritage if the Kodokan (founder Kano Jiguro’s family was neo-Confucian), I cannot picture that organization taking action of this kind under any circumstances. Maybe the IJF shold be disbanded and a request made to the Kodokan Judo Institute to adopt the Olympic responsibilities.

    1. Turley is right that “Athletes expressing their faith does not condone other faiths or belittle competitors.” And it does not make the othesr NOT “feel respected and accepted”.

      But I think he misses a larger point. Preventing the Majdov from making the sign of the cross DOES make Majdov feel NOT “feel respected and accepted”.

      But again, I think that’s the whole point of the Olypmic committee. To make Christians not feel respected and accepted.

      1. So true.

        Karl Marx is the opiate of the communists (liberals, progressives, socialists, democrats, RINOs, AINOs).

        Unfettered freedom, free speech, free press, free assembly, free enterprise, free markets, free market competition, right to bear arms, due process, privacy, private property, rights reserved to states, et al., and severely limited and restricted government constitute the “opiate” of actual Americans. 

    3. “Religion is the opiate of the masses.”

      – Karl Marx (and George)

      And Atheism is the religion of Karl Marx and his communist acolytes like George, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Hitler, etc.

  5. This Olympic gesture is but a microcosm of the global effort to destroy individuality and standardize human nature, race, and spiritual/intellectual/visceral behavior. Representative “country” is no more than a geographic designation- not culture, heritage, or
    history. “Imagine” that, said John Lennon!
    No more religious gratitude! No more God or religion, too, said Lennon. No more “In God We Trust!” or “God Bless Them!” Get that silly nonsense off of our coins and outta our constitutions! No more insignia of individuality! No opposing ideas or doctrines! Not even discussion! STANDARDIZE the new normal! Or else you may create differences, arguments, objections, interference! No! No! No! Crush! Censor! Destroy anything not consistent with the Agenda!
    In the name of DEI, standardize income! Jobs distributed according to race, ethnicity, or gender preference! Redistribute wealth, irrespective of who earned it! so that everyone has “equity!”
    Mao suits for everyone! (remember the old photos of Chinese citizens in their ubiquitous dark two-piece garb?) -How did that work out??? (Chinese men changed their minds, now wear Western business suits and guess what?– “https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/china-is-producing-billionaires-faster-than-any-other-nation.!!!
    This is what happens when the majority mobs (of “averages”) think they know better, then take over and rule. It is an effort fed by greed by the “elites” who stand to benefit from instigation.
    But, but, but…It will live a short life, then it will revert back to America’s golden principles and leadership!

    I’m just havin’ sum fun this a.m., folks.
    In the meantime, follow the advice of Upstate Farmer and others: discern what matters most to you, then preserve and stock up!
    yours truly, Downstate Consumer, hoarding chocolate milk, bermuda shorts, and good reads.

    1. “I’m just havin’ sum fun this a.m., folks.”

      Have fun, Lin, with a great post. They are fascists who must destroy every fiber of our being so that when we look up, we look down and pray for our daily bread.

      1. Isaiah 5:20

        “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

              1. FishAnus… cult follower of Karl Marx, Obama, Biden, Harris, or any other communist they run for office.

                One of their more useless Marxist Useful Idiots.

      2. “They are fascists who must destroy every fiber of our being ”

        And apparently the fiber in Bermuda shorts, as well, judging by Lin’s hoarding list 🙂

      1. Ha! Funny and smart, Traveler!
        (p.s. I should not have capitalized Olympic; I merely meant it as an adjective, as in “massive.”)
        (p.s.s. I liked your Tora Tora Tora comment the other day too)

      2. Traveler: I’m sure Dagney Taggart and John Galt would be pleased to have you as a neighbor.

      3. If we can find and cloak one from prying eyes and drones, it’s looking more and more attractive.

        1. “If we can find and cloak one from prying eyes and drones, it’s looking more and more attractive.”

          It’s called “jamming”. A modern day version of Galt’s Gulch would need to either transmit massive amounts of random waves on a number of frequencies, or have the ability to intercept/ground all such transmissions within quite a distance (no mean feat). Or have a handful of deliverable nukes…

    3. Lin,
      Good, fun comment!
      chocolate milk, good reads, right there with you.
      Bermuda shorts? Not so much. We average twenty two feet of snow.

      2. Upstate, I put in about 63 years of heavy snow and wicked cold, along with very liberal politics, until I could stand it no longer and I fled to the sun, more conservative representation and lower taxes. Everyone living under left wing regimes, high taxes (redundant) and cold weather should consider heading to the sunshine, both in real climate and also political climate. It is much less frustrating.

        1. Well, I live in Eastern Maine – it’s very Republican here, though, my town having a college, we do get a fair share of nonsense. Nonetheless, we usually send one electoral vote to the Republican candidate for president. I’m betting we oust our Dem Congressional Rep this election, too. Jared Golden’s got by on local cred, but we didn’t like not being able to go to church. At least, that was all that was state-shuttered, aside from restaurants.

        2. HullBobby,
          I have been to some of the hottest places on earth. You can only get so naked. And I dont enjoy listening to myself sweat. I heat with wood. Got my own wood lot. Even if the power goes out, I can still stay warm. I have been in the deep south, in August, power out for three days after a hurricane. No thank you. And the state bird is the mosquito, and cockroaches as long as my finger. Then there were the alligators on the golf courses. I’ll take the snow.

          1. The ‘good professor’s blog’ is becoming
            more and more like certain people’s
            Facebook/personal OT pages every day.

    4. Lin – Steely Dan produced this song in direct response to Lennon’s “Imagine.” Lennon is said to have hated it, and understandably so.

      2. I recently revisited their “Can’t Buy a Thrill” (1st) album, and was shocked at the number of songs with lyrics that are appropriate to our current state of affairs (or can easily be interpreted that way – their lyrics can be pretty cryptic). Regarding the comment below, not all “hippies” were Marxists, many were more in tune with libertarian philosophy – they just wanted to be left TF alone to pursue their interests, and also to not be drafted as cannon fodder to die in some rice paddy halfway around the world.

    5. Lin-I have days like that also. Maybe even today. Some days you feel like the one eyed man in a sea of blind people.
      Well said. You should feel better now.

    6. @lin

      Yup. They want us all to be compliant little lemmings living in little gray boxes, eating government supplied gray food. No. just, no. These arrogant, elitist ass***** can bite me. Western European societies can enjoy their anemia and freezing during the winters; as ever, we in the actual land of the free will not capitulate. And yes, that will once again mean the few carrying the many. ‘Sad’ does not begin to describe what has happened to the Western world in 2024. For Pete’s sake, find your spines. A modern dem voter is basically a petulant child. Stop imposing your daddy issues (Trump! Trump, Trump, Trump!) and various other neuroses on the rest of us. You will be glad we ignored you, someday.

      1. It used to be very left-wing to sing in derision of all the people in the “little boxes all the same.” All made of ticky-tacky, and they all go to the university, where they all get put in boxes, little boxes all the same.

        The left has totally become what it used to hate. So that leaves us true liberals, who believe in the individual’s rights, the Constitution, and very much the responsibility to think for one’s self, politically homeless.

        I haven’t been a member of any political party for well over a quarter-century. And I consider I was late to the party of no-party. Better no party than the Uniparty of perpetual war and suppression of independent thought.

        1. ” All made of ticky-tacky, and they all go to the university, where they all get put in boxes, little boxes all the same. ”

          Yep, the song is by Pete Seeger, a veteran leftist, and it was aimed at the conformity of suburban tract housing, among other late 1950s – early 1960s exercises in group-think, but somehow the essence that Seeger captured (possibly in spite of himself) lends itself quite readily to James’ scenario.
          Pete Seeger – Little Boxes

        2. @Ellen

          Agreed, and me either. After all that has transpired since 2008 though, I will never vote dem again.

  6. Turley is posting his usual “bit of dishonesty” shtick. If he is not telling the whole story, he is using it to push a false narrative. This is what he did not make known to his MAGA readers,

    “ In a statement, the IJF said Majdov had breached a rule on ‘displaying religious signs’ as well as other policies.

    The organization said he had refused ‘to bow to his opponent at the end of the contest’ and for ‘having removed [his] judogi in the field of play.’ Majdov it added had been warned previously about making a sign of the cross during separate incidents in April 2018 and February 2022 and was informed he would face ‘a disciplinary session’ after any repeated violations.

    The IJF statement said: ‘It must be noted that the athlete did not contest either of the two warnings, therefore, his claims of not knowing about the rule which forbids the display of any religious, political, ethnic or other sign on the field of play in judo, are not accurate.’

    It went on to state that the rules relating to making a sign of the cross relate only to when an athlete is competing and not ‘outside the field of play’.”

    …” ‘As an international umbrella organisation, it is our duty to make sure that all our stakeholders and especially the athletes, feel respected and accepted, in all our events and activities.

    ‘Our rules regarding the display of religious or other signs is strictly related to the field of play, which is a space dedicated exclusively for judo and where only the judo specific signs and rules are on display, equally for all. ‘The IJF does not forbid the practice of religions or religious signs outside the field of play, as we continue to respect the individual freedom of each member of our community.’“

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13868569/Judo-champion-banned-five-months-sign-cross-Olympic-Games.html

    My theory about the reading comprehension problems with the MAGA crowd here is valid. It has nothing to do with the Olympics, but they keep blaming the Olympics and France because “Olympic athlete” is in the title. Sigh.

      1. Anonymous, I know it’s you. Turley didn’t tell the whole story, and now his MAGA readers are all upset at the French and the Olympics when neither are involved. It is hilarious.

        1. Glad you could read Danley B. Wolfe’s name so well, and put it in context with your reply, gorgeous.

    3. Have you ever written a comment without the phrase “reading comprehension” in it? This is starting to look like a Where’s Waldo kind of thing. Is that your intention?

      1. If you didn’t have a reading comprehension problem, I wouldn’t have to point it out. But you seem unable to overcome it.

        Then there is your obsession with it, and you must respond with insults and projection because of it.

        1. who appointed you to ‘point it out?’ Look in the mirror, gorgeous. You seem quite obsessed with reading comprehension and context/ Were those the remarks from teachers on your report cards?

      2. “Have you ever written a comment without the phrase “reading comprehension” in it? “

        That term was frequently used against Svelaz before he became Svelaz and George. He adopted that term along with others and uses it frequently today. He is a plagiarizer and liar. When all else fails, he uses AI.

        1. S. Meyer, I wouldn’t be posting about reading comprehension if there were apparent failures like yours. It would be best if you tried it. It would do wonders for your incoherence problem.

          1. George
            I think what Professor Meyer is saying is that perhaps You are the coherence problem…

          2. Svelaz, if you had a brain in your head, you would enlighten us with your intellect. But all you leave us with is the horror of your degenerate mind where intellect is displaced by stupidity, lies, plagiarism and AI.

            1. S. Meyer, how could I enlighten you when you don’t have anything to enlighten you? If you shined a flashlight into your eyes, you could see the hamster running the wheel died long ago. It would explain why you’re so incoherent when you need to say something longer than as sentence.

              1. My words are on the blog, as are yours. I provide substance and facts. You provide lies, stupidity, plagiarism and AI. Everyone can see that. If you disagree, start by finishing an earlier discussion.

                When the Ottoman Empire broke up, portions of the Middle East were divided into Mandates. Some of the major countries of the time each got a piece of land, which, under specific laws, was to be divided up to become nation-states. That is how many of the countries were created and the boundaries settled. Therefore, each country created worked under the same international rules.
                What happened to the British Mandate?

                Time for you to respond, but you don’t. You can’t. You are too stupid to do so.

                1. S. Meyer says, “I provide substance and facts.”

                  HAHAHAHAHA! No, you don’t. AAAAHAHAHAA. ROFL!

                  1. George, you have a follower, the drunk below. You have a chance to prove yourself. I keep providing you with an entrance, but you know you are a failure with trains for brains, so you run away. Here it is again. See if you can’t manage a single sentence.

                    When the Ottoman Empire broke up, portions of the Middle East were divided into Mandates. Some of the major countries of the time each got a piece of land, which, under specific laws, was to be divided up to become nation-states. That is how many of the countries were created and the boundaries settled. Therefore, each country created worked under the same international rules.

                    What happened to the British Mandate?

    4. * OBVIOUSLY Turley is a Constitution expert and RELIGIOUS freedom is 1st amendment material.

      Please post long winded comment so everyone’s fingers can grow tired while scrolling down.

    5. ^^GEORGE is posting his usual “bit of dishonesty” shtick. If he is not telling the whole story, he is using it to push a false narrative.

    6. My theory about the reading comprehension problems with the MAGA crowd here is valid. It has nothing to do with the Olympics

      My theory is that your ranting buffoonery and self appointed elitism is at least somewhat more entertaining than your regularly scheduled weekly posts reeking of Confederate Democrat racism. You’re slightly more appealing when posting your drivel without the Kluxxer hood on.

    7. It doesn’t matter what other rules he supposedly broke. This post is about this rule, which was the actual thing he was banned for, and it is an illegitimate rule. The rule is proof of the IJF’s hostility to religion. There is no way to justify it.

      That they “generously allow” the practice of religion “outside the field of play” is irrelevant; the point is that they ban it on the field of play, and there is no legitimate reason why they would do that. They claim it is their duty to make sure that the athletes feel respected and accepted, and yet they go out of their way to make a rule in order to make it clear to all religious athletes, and to all religious people everywhere, that they are despised and rejected. You seem to be OK with that.

  7. The sickening irony of this is that it occurred during an Olympics that featured that disgusting parody of religion during it’s Olympic opening ceremony.

  8. Well it is Judo, and so the presumptive athlete is supposed to be using their hands for;

    “Wax on right hand. Wax off left hand. Wax on, wax off. Breathe in through nose, out through mouth. Wax on, wax off. Don’t forget to breathe. Very important.”
    –Mr. Miyagi

  9. A practice accepted in a more elegant and tolerant sge. The Olympics, as we knew it, before professional athletes, competed, and the abuses of the Soviet union, are a thing of the past, and should be abandoned.

    1. * As the Moslem war heats up and eventually Jerusalem nuked so goes the seat of Christianity. Aim one at Mecca and the box.

      Best wishes c ya.

      1. Sooner or later the Mad Mullahs will have those nukes that Obama & Biden, and now Biden & Harris have worked so hard to make it possible to do that.

        Being devout followers of the Salafist/Wahaabist cult of Islam, who believe that only the faithful initiating an armaggedon will get the last Mahdi to come out of the well at Qom to initiate the return of Mohammad (with Jesus obediently trotting behind at his heel), it is inevitable that they will pop one of those nukes in Israel somehow. They aren’t worried at the Israeli response – their stay in Paradise will be brief as that Mahdi pops out and Mohammad reappears to rule the world.

        Harris, Biden, Obama… whatever: do they actually think their incredible foreign policy will prevent Israel from retaliating against a nuclear strike with more nuclear strikes of Iran than anyone could imagine?

        And at that point these Democrat geniuses, just like now nearly a year after October 7th, will respond: BAD Israel, BAD!

        A little bit too late… but better to blame other people for the failure of coddling Iran’s Mad Mullahs than yourself.

  10. Does seem to be going a bit overboard with policing the hand gestures/gang signs doesn’t it? So, at surface level I agree with you on this one, Turls…, but I suspect there’s more to the story just based on your established practice of omitting relevant details….

    Funny how making the sign of the cross has entered sig Heil territory. The Christians been puttin’ in some work.

    1. John 15:18-19

      The World Hates the Disciples

      18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

  11. If you can feel ‘disrespected’ by Muslim prayer beads, or the sign of the cross, or a star of David, you are really the one with the problem. These people are such weaklings. 🙄 And yet they likely have no issue with inverted pentagrams. 🙄

    1. If you can mock (or if others would prefer: “feel disrespected”) symbols of Abrahamic faiths, it’s possible they mock/disrespect the cult followers of the religion of Atheism. The one whose primary article of faith is being obsessed with those who believe in some deity rather than what they believe.

      They may even mock those who find some religion in pentagrams – or just plain old ignore them because it looks more like Antifa graffitti.

  13. The Olympics have a long history of following the rules, except when the rules are inconvenient and then they don’t follow them at all. Their referees are the worst in sports and are noted for the idiocy of some of their decisions. Their decisions in boxing over the decades have been a long list of calling losers, who were pounded into submission by the apparent winner, but then the loser was crowned victor because of good defense!!! Their recent demonstration in gymnastics and the floating bronze medal that kept moving back and forth between opponents is only the most recent obscenity. The most gregarious decision was the basketball championship of 1972 when offficials came out of the stands to overrule referees in the game and basically hand the gold medal to the Russians. I used to watch the Olympics avidly but once I grew up I put aside these childish things.
    In truth their rule says that religious demonstrations are ok outside the field of play but in the field of play such displays are evil and must be verboten. Since they never could talk Zeus into blasting the miscreant competitor they fall back on a suspension. Wow, such righteous anger towards crossing one’s self in thanks to god or Zeus.
    Is this a chapter of a new Percy Jackson novel. “Percy Jackson at the Olympics Rules Committee”.
    Maybe all future Olympians should have lightning bolts on their Jerseys. Surely that would protect them.
    Better yet, they might install HRC as Medusa and invent a new event. HRC would be perfect since you would not have to change her personality. It only requires a sword and a highly reflective shield. The crowds would be overwhelming. (Parody-Don’t want to run afoul of Gavin Newsom or be preached at for being violent. That would make me sound like a Democrat. Of course this was not written by AI)
    I have a thousand monkeys pounding on computers every day and this was the best they could come up with. I think I need better monkeys.

    1. GEB

      This matter has absolutely nothing to do with the Olympics.

      Majdov was sanctioned by the International Judo Federation for multiple violations of its rules and code of ethics only one of which was the display of a religious sign.

      This guy has a history of flagrant violations of the rules.

      You are a typical MAGA cult member who likes to complain and whine about anything and everything without being aware of the facts.

      3. Anonymous9:45 am-I don’t care if it’s the Olympic rules or the Judo federation. Sanctioning a gentleman for crossing himself is asinine. If a Muslim, or Jew or Hindu made a religious movement in a match, I would not care other than to wait until they were done. Also I don’t bow to anyone because I find it offensive and demeaning. I am a competitor, not a supplicant. Standing respectively is all that I would do or expect any other to do. Bowing needs to be eliminated from all types of sports. Be respectful not subservient. I would object to animal sacrifice on the mat like ducks and cats because of the cruelty to animals and because it befouls the playing surface.
        I also do not ascribe to any cults MAGA or otherwise. Your presumption and false superior attitude gets in the way of you making a rational comment.

        1. “Bowing needs to be eliminated from all types of sports.”

          I must disagree, at least where judo is concerned. Judo students and instructors bow to each other frequently in class as a sign of mutual respect. This is true of most martial arts that originated in Asia. In addition, judoka traditionally bow to each other at the beginning and at the end of matches, both to reinforce that acknowledgement of respect, and additionally to demonstrate that it is only a contest of skills, and that victory or defeat on the mat has no bearing on the respective contestants worth as individuals.

      4. You are a typical MAGA cult member who likes to complain and whine about anything and everything without being aware of the facts.

        Your typical Anonymous commie hates Christians almost as much as they love their atheist religious leader Karl Marx. And their article of faith is Anonymously posting that anyone who doesn’t believe or worship like a good commie must simply be ignorant of the facts.

        And here we are again.

    2. GEB –

      . . . long list of calling losers, who were pounded into submission by the apparent winner, but then the loser was crowned victor because of good defense!

      Reminded me of this video on macro-economics. Boxing battle between Kaynes and Hayek. Very entertaining (and pretty informative too).

    3. GEB,

      “The most gregarious decision”?!

      You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

  14. Dear Mr. Turley, thank you for your article on this attack on religious freedom. This story isn’t over yet. Billions of people around the world have a religious faith and it is part of human nature to look to Someone higher than us, who we trust is overseeing this world and eternity. For myself, I knew God existed as an 9-year-old. Later on I realized that Christ was the embodiment of the Heavenly Father and I placed my faith in Him and became a Christian. It is my hope that this young person will hold onto their faith and not let others tell him how and when they may express their faith.

  15. The IJF said that this is simply an effort to ensure its members “feel respected and accepted.”

    🤔 And by members they mean those genuflecting to no power higher than the IBF.

    It must gall the IBF that they cannot ban athletes that wear their nation’s flag with religious symbols on them.

  16. need to CUT funding to ANY of these ANTI-West organization!
    No freedom of religion…NO MONEY!

      1. yes the french make love with their mouths

        I’m pretty sure that Kamala Harris and Monica Lewinsky are American, not French.

    2. Oh, ….it is the French!

      Oh, and here it’s the good Americans! How many times have good Americans prosecuted and attempted to convict a baker who refuses to make creative wedding cakes for the Alphabet Sex Pride Tribe? Are they up to ten times so far?

      Christians arrested and jailed for silently protesting somewhere close to a Planned Parenthood Democrat Baby Butcher Shop?

      Never mind that right here in America, almost every day:

      BBBBUUUTTTTT…. MUH FRENCH!

  18. Historically, the French have been fickle about religious observances. While proud of their great cathedrals, they disdain religious practice. They have forgotten that even one of their greatest, Voltaire, hedged his bets on God.

    1. This has absolutely nothing to do with the French or the Olympics.

      Majdov was sanctioned by the International Judo Federation.

  19. Clearly Trump is responsible for that man man getting barred by the IJF. Who else could it be?

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