Russian President Vladimir Putin has received honorary sports titles from different countries and sports federations and is now being stripped of these honorary sports honors from the Russian President after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. This comes after sports governing bodies imposed sanctions on Russian teams, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommending a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes competing in international competition.
In the same statement on Monday, the IOC announced that it had withdrawn the Olympic Order, the highest award of the Olympic movement, from Vladimir Putin. Also on Monday, World Taekwondo stripped Putin of his honorary black belt as a result of violence in Ukraine. “World Taekwondo strongly condemns the brutal attacks on innocent people in Ukraine, in which World Taekwondo sees peace more precious than victory,” the governing body said in its statement.
“In this context, World Taekwondo has decided to withdraw the honorary 9th Dan Black Belt awarded to Vladimir Putin in November 2013,” the statement added. World Taekwondo said no Russian or Belarusian national flags or the national anthem would be played at its events. Apart from this, no Taekwondo event will be organized in Russia and Belarus, which is recognized by World Taekwondo.
Earlier on Sunday, the International Judo Federation (IJF) said it would suspend Putin’s honorary president and ambassador status. At the same time, the European Judo Federation also withdrew Putin’s honorary president status on Monday. On Tuesday, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) withdrew the FINA order given to the Russian President in October 2014.