Taekwondo athletes 2011 condemns the war of aggression in Ukraine

Taekwondo athletes 2011 condemns Russia's attack on the independent state and people of Ukraine. At the same time, we want to emphasize that people from many different backgrounds train at our gym. All people, regardless of background, ethnicity, religion, political views or sexual orientation, are welcome to train together, if they accept our value and the right of others to participate in the activity. That's why we emphasize that even in the prevailing situation, both our Ukrainian and Russian enthusiasts are equally welcome to train in our gym.

World Taekwondo announcement:

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.

In this regard, World Taekwondo has decided to withdraw the Honorary 9th dan black belt conferred to Mr. Vladimir Putin in November 2013.

In solidarity with the International Olympic Committee, no Russian or Belarusian national flags or anthems will be displayed or played at World Taekwondo events. World Taekwondo and the European Taekwondo Union will not organize or recognize Taekwondo events in Russia and Belarus.

World Taekwondo's thoughts are with the people of Ukraine and we hope for a peaceful and immediate end to this war.

http://m.worldtaekwondo.org/wtnews/view.html?nid=138702

Photo: Sunguk Kim