Bengaluru, March 1: Russian President Vladimir Putin has been stripped of his honorary taekwondo black belt over his country's invasion of Ukraine, a personal rebuke heaped on top of international economic and sporting sanctions.

World Taekwondo, citing its motto of Peace is More Precious than Triumph, condemned the Russian military action in Ukraine, saying the brutal attacks on innocent lives violated the sport's values of respect and tolerance."

In this regard, World Taekwondo has decided to withdraw the honorary 9th dan black belt conferred to Mr. Vladimir Putin in November 2013," the governing body said in a statement.

It added that it would join the International Olympic Committee IOC) in banning the Russian flag and anthem at its events.

The IOC had said it was needed to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants.

The decision opened the way for FIFA, the governing body of soccer, to exclude Russia from a World Cup qualifying play-off match on March 24. Poland has refused to play the scheduled game against Russia.

The Olympic body's call also applied to athletes and official from Belarus, which has abetted Russia's invasion by allowing its territory to be used to station troops and launch military attacks.

Olympic body calls for Russia to be excluded from sports

The decision comes after the International Judo Federation said it would suspend Putin's status as honorary president and ambassador in the light of the ongoing war conflict in Ukraine.

Other sporting organization such as FIFA and UEFA have suspended Russian national teams and clubs from competition.

The move makes it likely that Russia will be excluded from this year's Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup and the women's Euro 2020 tournament.

Spartak Moscow will be removed from the Europa League, where they had been set to face RB Leipzig in the last 16.

Qatar 2022: Russia may miss out as FIFA, UEFA suspend them from international football

Putin has demonstrated capable technique while appearing in martial arts uniforms, projecting an image of strength as he has in other carefully staged events such as those of him riding bare-chested on a horse or playing ice hockey.

Russian forces bombarded Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv, on Monday, drawing new sanctions from the United States and its allies as part of the international isolation of Russia.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a special operation that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.

Olympic order withdrawn

The IOC had already decided to withdraw the Olympic Order given to Putin and two other top functionaries for the extremely grave violation of the Olympic Truce and other violations of the Olympic Charter by the Russian government by its invasion of Ukraine.

The IOC's Executive Board took this decision during a meeting.

Besides Putin, the Olympic Order has been taken away from Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister, and Dmitry Kozak, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office.

The IOC had awarded the Olympic Order - Gold to Putin in 2001, while Chernyshenko and Kozak were given the same honour in 2014, the year Russia hosted the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Sochi.

The IOC has also decided to withdraw the Olympic Order from all persons who currently have an important function in the government of the Russian Federation or other government-related high-ranking positions.