MADRID, 27 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The International Judo Federation has suspended Russian President Vladimir Putin as honorary president and ambassador of the body following the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
“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,” the body confirmed in a statement.
Putin is an avid judo practitioner and has reached the level of black belt in the sport. Russia has a great influence in world judo; the president of the International Federation, Marius Vizer, is a friend of Putin and the European Federation is led by the Russian Sergey Soloveychik. Both bodies receive considerable sponsorship from Russia.
The ‘Grand Slam’ scheduled to be played in May in Kazan was canceled last Friday. Russia is increasingly isolated in the world of sport, but world soccer’s governing body, FIFA, has yet to take action on Russia’s involvement; Poland and Sweden have confirmed that they will not face Russia in the play-off qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
For its part, UEFA has already said matches cannot be played in Russia or Ukraine, and is considering breaking its sponsorship deal with Russia’s state-owned Gazprom. Gazprom sponsors the Champions League and Euro 2024 in Germany, but Schalke 04, currently in the second division, has already withdrawn its sponsorship from the shirt.
Volleyball is one of the few sports that still has an important championship scheduled in Russia, the Men’s World Cup scheduled for August; Whether it should be canceled is still being considered, but some countries have assured that they will not travel to Russia to participate.