Three spectators banned from World Judo Championship for wearing Russian military emblem

The International Judo Federation (IJF) said on Wednesday it had ejected a group of spectators from the World Judo Championships in Doha for refusing to remove a Russian military symbol. Three spectators were seen wearing the Ribbon of St George, which is considered by many Ukrainians a symbol of Russian aggression and has been banned in several European countries, as they watched Tuesday’s action at an arena in the Qatari capital. The IJF told AFP that the spectators refused to remove the emblem and so were thrown out. The IJF has allowed Russian and Belarusian judokas to take part in these championships as neutral competitors, having previously banned them after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As a result of the decision to allow the Russians and Belarusians to return, Ukraine has boycotted the event. In the tournament itself, France’s Clarisse Agbegnenou claimed a sixth world title, just 11 months after giving birth to her first child. The 30-year-old beat Slovenia’s Andreja Leski by ippon in the -63kg category. “I couldn’t have dreamed of better. I worked very, very hard to get here,” the double Olympic champion from Tokyo said. Georgia’s Tato Grigalashvili successfully defended the men’s -81kg title with victory over Matthias Casse, of Belgium, the 2021 world champion. Japan’s Olympic gold medallist Takanori Nagase rounded out the podium by seeing off Lee Joon-hwan of South Korea. Read all the Latest News, Trending News,  Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.