IOC and World Taekwondo Federation Strip More Awards from Vladimir Putin
After the International Judo Federation revoked his Honorary Presidential status, Vladimir Putin has more sporting honors stripped as he continues his near-unanimously condemned invasion of Ukraine. Now, Putin has had his honorary black belt revoked by the World Taekwondo Federation and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recommended that all Russian and Belarusian athletes to be barred from international competition.
Vladimir Putin, the IOC, and World Taekwondo
The IOC usually stays out of political matters. But with the amount of backlash the world has been sending Russia because of the invasion, and the crimes being committed, the IOC decided to send a message along with the United States, NATO, the EU and the rest of the world: they will not stand with the senseless invasion of Ukraine. The organization has decided to recommend a ban all Russian athletes from international competition to each of the athletic federations, like FIFA, the IJF and more. This does not automatically ban Russians and Belarusians, as that decision will be up to the governing bodies. In addition to recommending bans, the IOC also says that events held in Russia and Belarus.
In addition to the sanctions to the athletes, the IOC has removed the Olympic Order honors from Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Chernyshenko, and Dmitry Kozak, all Russian officials.
As the sanctions and banning rolls in from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, even the small things send a message. In lockstep with the IOC, the World Taekwondo Federation has also laid down the law on Russian President Vladimir Putin. The organization has taken Putin’s honorary black belt and banned any flag and national anthem from Russian and Belarusian athletes, albeit the athletes can still compete. Their statement is below:
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.
In this regard, World Taekwondo has decided to withdraw the honorary 9th dan black belt conferred to Mr. Vladimir Putin in November 2013.
In solidarity with the International Olympic Committee, no Russian or Belarusian national flags or anthems will be displayed or played at World Taekwondo events. World Taekwondo and the European Taekwondo Union will not organise or recognise Taekwondo events in Russia and Belarus.
More sanctions are bound to come down on Putin and the Russian government as time passes by. One thing is for certain, the world is not having any of this injustice and everyone is looking to send their message to Putin.
**********
In addition to covering the Olympics for My MMA News, Blaine Henry, the author, also analyzes fights from all combat sports across the globe.
Blaine Henry can be found on Twitter, on his podcast, and Patreon.
