The Russian President has been the Honorary President and Ambassador of the International Judo Federation since 2008
The International Judo Federation (IJF) has suspended Russian President Vladimir Putin as its Honorary President and Ambassador, halting the role the head of state has held at the governing body since 2008.
Sports fan Putin has regularly attended judo events including the competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games, where he sat alongside then-UK Prime Minister David Cameron and embraced Tagir Khaibulaev after the Russian judoka won gold, and the 2018 World Championships in Baku.
Putin is a black belt who was a regional judo champion in his hometown of St. Petersburg during his youth, according to the IJF website.
He also produced an instructional DVD on the martial art in 2008, ‘Let’s Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin’, and has written a book about the sport which was distributed to millions of schoolchildren.
In light of the ongoing war conflict in Ukraine, the International Judo Federation announces the suspension of Mr. Vladimir Putin’s status as Honorary President and Ambassador of the International Judo Federation.https://t.co/QQDZbF6rfd
— Judo (@Judo) February 27, 2022
Khaibulaev, Rio 2016 Olympic champion Beslan Mudranov and Natalia Kuziutina, who won a bronze medal at the same Games, took part in a session with Putin at the Federal Center for Sports Training in Sochi in 2019.