World judo body suspends Putin as its honorary president

Budapest, February 27

Vladimir Putin temporarily lost his most senior official position in world sports on Sunday.

The International Judo Federation cited “the ongoing war conflict in Ukraine” for suspending Putin’s honorary president status.

The Russian president is a keen judoka and attended the sport at the 2012 London Olympics.

The IJF is rare among Olympic sports bodies for using the word “war” to describe Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ordered by Putin on Thursday. Others have used phrases such as “escalation of conflict.” A Kremlin-supporting oligarch and longtime friend of Putin, Arkady Rotenberg, remains on the  IJF executive committee as “development manager.” (AP)