Ukraine war: Vladimir Putin was given the honorary Taekwondo black belt in 2013. (AFP File photo)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been stripped of his honorary Taekwondo black belt for mounting an attack against Ukraine. The announcement was made by World Taekwondo on Twitter.
"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 sport's governing body said in a statement posted on Twitter.
"In this regard, World Taekwondo has decided to withdraw the honorary 9th dan black belt conferred to Mr. Vladimir Putin in November 2013," it added.
In further tightening of sanctions, World Taekwondo said that it will not organise or recognise Taekwondo events in Russia and Belarus.
The announcement by World Taekwondo was welcomed by social media users and those who practice the sport.
"Thank you. I was deeply concerned as a practitioner," a Twitter user Lesley Carhart posted.
"Thank you for that strong statement. The world of Taekwondo appreciates your leadership in this," said another.
This comes after football organisations FIFA and UEFA said they have suspended Russian national team and clubs from competitions.
"FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice," both the bodies said in a joint statement.
The statement further said that both the football's governing bodies are "in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine".
The Russian Football Union denounced the suspension, saying the move was "discriminatory".
UEFA had last week stripped the Russian city of Saint Petersburg of this season's Champions League final, moving the game on May 28 to Paris.
Russian forces, meanwhile, continued shelling Ukraine's second city Kharkiv, killing at least 11 civilians. Governor Oleg Sinegubov accused Moscow of targeting residential areas.