Russian President Vladimir Putin has been rebuked in various ways since he first directed his soldiers to invade Ukraine last week, including multiple sanctions that are intended to negatively impact his citizens and economy.
Now, a pair of international martial arts groups are going after Putin’s status in the realms of taekwondo and judo.
Today, World Taekwondo—labeled as the International Federation that governs the sport and is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations and International Paralympic Committee—announced it had revoked Putin’s honorary 9th dan black belt that was given to him in November 2013.
“World Taekwondo strongly condemns the brutal attacks on innocent lives in Ukraine, which go against the World Taekwondo vision of ‘Peace is More Precious than Triumph’ and the World Taekwondo values of respect and tolerance. World Taekwondo’s thoughts are with the people of Ukraine and we hope for a peaceful and immediate end to this war,” the organization said in a statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had his honorary taekwondo black belt revoked today, one day after his honorary judo status as president and ambassador was suspended.
World Taekwondo, expressing solidarity with the International Olympic Committee, also stated that no Russian or Belarusian national flags or anthems will be displayed or played at the organization’s worldwide events—nor will it, in cohesion with the European Taekwondo Union, “organize or recognize” Taekwondo-related events in both Russia and Belarus.
The announcement came on the heels of a statement made Sunday by the International Judo Federation, which “in light of the ongoing war conflict in Ukraine” suspended Putin’s status as the federation’s honorary president and ambassador.
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