Africa-Press – Botswana. The International Judo Federation (IJF) suspended Sunday (27) the status of honorary president and ambassador of the body of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, due to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
“In light of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the International Judo Federation announces the suspension of Vladimir Putin’s status as Honorary President and Ambassador of the Federation,” the IJF announced in a short statement quoted by the French news agency AFP.
Based in Paris, the IJF is chaired by the Austrian Marius Vizer, who in 2012 awarded Putin the eighth “dan”, one of the highest degrees in judo. At the time, Vizer justified the distinction by saying that Putin was “one of the personalities who guarantee the values of judo in the world”.
In an interview in 2001, he said that he was a master of the sport and that he saw judo as a philosophy. The author of a book on judo, Putin admitted in 2014 that he would have liked to have been an Olympic athlete in this sport.
Russia invaded Ukraine again on Thursday after annexing Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014. On the fourth day of fighting, Ukrainian forces continue to resist despite the difference in the armed forces of the two neighboring countries.
The invasion was condemned by the international community in general and led several countries and the European Union (EU) to impose economic sanctions on Russian interests and personalities, including Putin and his diplomatic chief, Sergei Lavrov.
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