HONG KONG – Russian President Vladimir Putin had his honorary black belt in taekwondo revoked by the sport’s international governing body on Tuesday, over his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
As Russian troops amass outside Kyiv, and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees flee into neighbouring countries, world leaders have heaped punishing economic sanctions on Putin and his closest allies, as well as Russian-linked businesses.
The sporting world has had a similar reaction: Russia was booted out of qualifying for this year’s football World Cup, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has urged federations to exclude athletes from Russia, as well as from its ally Belarus.
World Taekwondo, which governs international…
