A handshake before a game is a show of respect, but what if there is none?

One may recall that Virat Kohli’s refusal to shake hands with Sourav Ganguly during the 2023 IPL or  Mary Kom’s refusal to shake Nikhat Zareen’s hand in 2019 created considerable noise. Refusing to shake hands in public by top sportspersons — not for Covid-like precautions, but for other reasons — is a big statement and can cause a lot of social uproar. Incidentally, such events are becoming more commonplace worldwide, though the reasons vary.  

“An agreement can be expressed quickly and clearly in words but is only made effective by a ritual gesture: Open, weaponless hands stretched out toward one another, grasping each other in a mutual handshake,” historian Walter Burkert explained. The gesture’s original meaning was perhaps to express peaceful intentions. It also served as a sign of good faith while taking an oath or making a pledge. 

A ninth-century BC relief depicting the Assyrian King Shalmaneser III establishing an alliance with a Babylonian monarch is one of the oldest examples of a handshake. Handshakes are mentioned in Homer’s epics, mostly in reference to promises and expressions of confidence. In contrast, the handshake was a sign of loyalty and friendship in ancient Rome. 

Shaking off the handshake is sure to generate buzz today, because shaking hands is generally considered courteous, if not mandatory, in most sports. However, it has mostly affected the tennis community in the recent past for a variety of reasons. After losing to Anastasia Potapova at the Miami Open in 2023, Ukrainian star Marta Kostyuk declined to shake hands with the Russian. In fact, Kostyuk has often voiced her displeasure at athletes who fail to denounce the invasion of her country. 

Another Ukrainian player, Elina Svitolina, refused to shake hands with Victoria Azarenka of Belarus after a 2023 Wimbledon match. Recently, at the conclusion of their second-round match at this year’s US Open, Latvian player Jelena Ostapenko, who has come to be most known for her fractious handshakes, angrily attacked American player Taylor Townsend. 

In the men’s world, following the Brit’s comeback victory in the Davis Cup 2023, French star Arthur Fils shook hands with Dan Evans in a “no-look” manner. Then, in 2024, following Arthur Fils’ victory in the Hamburg Open final, German star Alexander Zverev could hardly look at Fils. There are instances in football also. In 2012, Liverpool’s Luis Suárez refused to shake Manchester United star Patrice Evra’s hand ahead of a Premier League fixture. An angry Man Utd manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, said Suárez “should not be allowed to play for Liverpool again.” 

Suárez was not penalised in that manner, but the penalties of not handshaking can be severe in certain situations. An Egyptian judoka, for instance, was sent home from the 2016 Rio Olympics after refusing to shake hands with an Israeli opponent after their bout. In 2008, the arbiter awarded British Grandmaster Nigel Short the full point after Bulgarian Grandmaster Ivan Cheparinov refused to shake hands at the beginning of a match. In chess, that was the rule. 

There’s no such rule in many other sports. Should “courtesy” be embedded into sports more rigorously in the form of mandatory handshakes? Should Suárez or Surya Kumar Yadav be compelled to shake hands even if they don’t want to? But think about Iga Świątek and Victoria Azarenka’s icy handshake during this year’s French Open that startled tennis fans. They shook hands, but the “Frostbite Handshake,” as social media swiftly dubbed it, had no eye contact, no smiles, and none of the usual sportsmanship flair tennis fans are accustomed to. Is such a “no-look handshake” preferable to none at all? One may certainly argue that shaking hands should be something one does spontaneously out of courtesy, not because it’s mandatory. Most professionals respect their opponents, for sure. But if you don’t, why would you be bothered to fake a handshake?

The debate continues. 

 

The author is professor of statistics, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata