Putin suspended as honorary president of International Judo Federation following Ukraine invasion

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Following his invasion of Ukraine, Russian president Vladimir Putin has been suspended as honorary president of the International Judo Federation.

“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 IJF said in a statement.

Putin, a blackbelt and former judo champion, is believed to have been a longtime practitioner of the sport, and even co-authored a book titled “Judo: History, Theory, Practice.”

In 2008, he released a judo instructional DVD to celebrate his 56th birthday. The DVD was a collaborative effort with other judo practitioners, including former world and Olympic champion Yasuhiro Yamashita.

The IJF also announced that it had cancelled an upcoming event in Kazan, Russia next May.

“The International Judo Federation announces with regret the cancellation of the 2022 Grand Slam in Kazan, Russia,” IJF President Marius Vizer said.

It is also worth noting that Arkady Rotenberg, an influential oligarch and longtime friend of Putin, remains on the IJF executive committee as “development manager.”

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Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.