Sisi to receive honorary black belt in Taekwondo

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi will be the owner of a black belt in Taekwondo despite having never trained in the martial art.

Al-Sisi will be awarded the “highest ranking belt” in the sport later this summer, according to the head of the African Taekwondo Union and Vice President of the International Taekwondo Union, Ahmad Al-Fouly.

Egyptian Al-Fouly confirmed the news earlier this week at a press conference on the World Taekwondo Cadet Championship which is set to take place in the city of Sharm El-Sheikh this August and where 62-year-old Al-Sisi will receive the belt and an honorary “African belt”.

According to Al- Fouly, the honorary belt is only given out to heads of state “who have had a role in supporting young people and sports”.

Since coming to power in a military coup against Egypt’s first democratically elected president in 2013, Al-Sisi has ordered a crackdown on his opponents. Tens of thousands of young Islamist and left-wing activists have been arrested and imprisoned as well as thousands killed.

Athletes have also suffered from major state underfunding as the economy continues to regress.

Last month, a young wrestler won a gold medal for his adopted country of Bulgaria after refusing to represent his native Egypt because it was unwilling to pay for his injury rehabilitation.Egyptians took to social media to poke fun at the decision.

“Does Sisi even know how to say the word ‘Taekwondo’,” one Twitter user joked.”The one thing I want to see in my life right now is see his excellency the president in a Taekwondo bout,” another user wrote.