The 11-years old Lebanese chess player Sally Hamadeh reportedly withdrew from the 5th round of the U12 World Chess Championship, held in Georgia, in a stance of refusal to acknowledge her Israeli opponent.
The head of the Lebanese delegation, Jamal Shamiya, commented that “the withdrawal came against the background of the nationality of the player who was supposed to face Sally,” adding that “there is no recognition of the enemy and no normalization with the occupier” of Palestine.
Sally is the 3rd Lebanese player representing Lebanon abroad to withdraw from international championships in the past weeks.
Last month, the Lebanese player Charbel Abou Daher, withdrew from the 2022 Youth MMA World Championships, and the Lebanese chess champion Nadia Fawaz withdrew from the 28th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival, both refusing to acknowledge Israeli players.
