The Lebanese Olympic team got into an argument with the Israeli team on Friday when they refused to share a bus heading to the Opening Ceremonies.
Reports say Lebanon chef de mission Salim Haj Nicola physically blocked the Israeli athletes at the bus entrance.
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Gili Lusting, head of the Israeli delegation, told the Associated Press the organizing committee saw the “blunt behaviour of the head of the Lebanese delegation and immediately arranged a different bus.”
“How could they let this happen on the eve of the Olympic Games? Isn’t this the opposite of what the Olympics represents?” Israeli sailor Udi Gal wrote in a Facebook post.
For his part, Haj Nicola insisted every country had their own bus and he had the right to refuse to ride with the other team.
“After we boarded Bus 22, which was dedicated to the Lebanese delegation, I was surprised by the Israeli delegation’s approaching and wanting to get on the bus with us,” Haj Nicola told a Lebanese newspaper.
“I then stood at the door of the bus to prevent the Israel team from entering and some of them tried to go in and pick up a fight.”
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The Jerusalem Post says the Lebanese team was reprimanded by the International Olympic Committee.
Now Haj Nicola just wants to move on from the controversy.
“This problem is finished,” he told AP. “We are here only for sports.”
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