Sometimes losses sting more than you expected. That becomes especially true when you’re coming off a great winning run but slip right at the finish line. Serbian judoka Nemanja Majdov found himself in a similar position after his 90kg exit after a loss to Greece’s Teodoris Celidis. The Serbian couldn’t accept the fact that he was basically disqualified from the match after committing a series of fouls. As a result, he went on a bizarre tirade after the match on his social media accounts.

While the opening ceremony had already proved to be a bit controversial, Majdov’s comments have again painted an unwanted image of the Olympic committee. In his now-deleted Instagram stories, the Serbian Judoka called referees and management “Satanic sc**bags” and “wretched Bast***s.” He also made a myriad of allegations against the event organizers. 

“Satanic sc**bags..Their seed has been poisoned by the judge. To disqualify me after 2 minutes and not give me a chance to show anything at all…those are the values and that sport and the Olympic Games, ordinary trash,” Majdov’s story read (translated via Google Translate). Later Majdov also claimed that “Judo is a destroyed” sport. However, the shocking comments came much later when Majdov claimed that the system was rigged against him.

“The one who wants to warm himself up and bow down to them passes,” Majdov’s post said. “I didn’t lose, no one defeated me…They disqualified me for 3 penalties that they invented.” Finally, Majdov said that he doesn’t know what his future is but as long as the “new rules” are there, he doesn’t “want to waste time and make so much sacrifice for the sport.” Did he hint at a possible retirement? That is merely a speculation at this point but it highlights the anger that the Serbian has. But what exactly happened in the match?

Nemanja Majdov vs Teodoris Tselidis – the situation that led to Serbian’s loss

Nemanja Majdov entered the Paris Olympics as world no.2 judoka. By all accounts, he was expected to win his bout against Teodoris Tselidis, the Greek judoka who is ranked no.15. However, the match started going out of Majdov’s hands from the first minute itself. He committed a non-combativity foul/Shido on his opponent. That pretty much signifies dirty play in judo. However, things got out of hand soon.

The Serbian committed to two more Shidos and within 3:50 minutes, he was disqualified from the match. According to the rules, if a judoka commits three shidos he immediately forfeits the match. Now as for the fairness of the matchup, the referee Loana Babijc gave one shido offense to Tselidis too. Whatever the case, both the participants faced penalties for their fouls. However, on this day Majdov’s aggression proved to be a bit too much for him. 

So are Nemanja Majdov’s accusations true? There is no proof of that. But one can understand the frustrations of Majdov. As a judoka, he has won the World Championship and the grandslam. The Olympics are the one frontier he hasn’t conquered yet. Now with age slowly passing him by, it’s natural for him to be frustrated with another early elimination.