Weightlifter was banned for life from competing in the sport after shaking hands with competitor

A weightlifter received a lifetime ban from competing for the simple act of shaking an opponent's hand.

The Olympic Games is the elite level of athletic competition, the culmination of years of hard work and preparation.

Athletes will do whatever they have to do to win, but not at the expense of sportsmanship.

The principle of sportsmanship and fair play runs through all levels of sport, not just the Olympics, but it appears to have cost one athlete his career.

Iranian weightlifter Mostafa Rajaei participated in the World Masters Weightlifting Championships last year in Poland, where he placed second overall in the men's over-35 age group in the 240-pound division.

He even managed to break the world record for the clean and jerk with a lift of 430-pounds. After the event he wrote on Instagram that he "could not work well" due to pain in his elbow but "in the two beats of God and gratitude, I became the first, and moved the world record by one kilogram."

However, Rajaei has not competed for his country since because of a simple handshake.

After he shook hands with Israeli competitor Maksim Svirsky, the Iranian Weightlifting Federation slapped him with a lifetime ban.

The federation said in a statement: "The weightlifting federation bans athlete Mostafa Rajaei for life from entering all sports facilities in the country and dismisses the head of the delegation for the competition, Hamid Salehinia."

The federation called the handshake 'unforgivable', and fired Salehinia.

They claimed that Rajaei had been "sent with the support of the federation" but then "crossed the red lines of the Islamic Republic" by his act of sportsmanship.

The federation took issue with the handshake because Iran does not recognise Israel as a nation, and it also disallows any contact between Iranian and Israeli athletes.

In 2021, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei asked competitors "not to shake hands with a representative of the [Israeli] criminal regime to obtain a medal."

Iranian athletes are routinely given medical certificates and disqualified from events in order to avoid Israeli competitors.

Iran called for Israel to be banned for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Iran’s foreign ministry stated on X last week: “Iran condemns the reception and protection of Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games in Paris, demanding their exclusion over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza."

On Wednesday, the Israeli Defence Force [IDF] assassinated Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh with an overnight strike in the capital of Iran, Tehran.

Several Iranian sportspeople have switched allegiances in recent years to avoid punishments for facing an Israeli opponent.

Chess prodigy Alireza Firouzja now plays under the French flag after Iran banned him from competing in the 2019 world championships because of the possibility he could face an Israeli opponent.