Putin No Longer Has a Taekwondo Black Belt

After being stripped of his position as honorary president of the International Judo Federation, Vladimir Putin has been punished by another martial art. World Taekwondo, which governs the sport of taekwondo, has revoked the Russian president's honorary 9th dan black belt, Newsweek reports. "World Taekwondo strongly condemns the brutal attacks on innocent lives in Ukraine, which go against the World Taekwondo vision of 'Peace is More Precious than Triumph' and the World Taekwondo values of respect and tolerance," the organization said in a statement, adding that its "thoughts are with the people of Ukraine and we hope for a peaceful and immediate end to this war." The organization will also stop displaying Russian and Belarusian flags at its events, and will no longer play the two national anthems or organize events in those countries.

Also Monday, the International Olympic Committee Executive Board recommended athletes from Russia and Belarus be banned from participating in Olympic sports, and international sports federations including FIFA, the International Ice Hockey Federation, World Rugby, and World Curling responded by suspending Russian teams until further notice. While "the Olympic Movement is united in its sense of fairness not to punish athletes for the decisions of their government if they are not actively participating in them," the IOC EB statement reads, "The current war in Ukraine ... puts the Olympic Movement in a dilemma. While athletes from Russia and Belarus would be able to continue to participate in sports events, many athletes from Ukraine are prevented from doing so because of the attack on their country." (More Vladimir Putin stories.)