Jean-Luc Rouge, President of the French Judo Federation, which has more than 500,000 members, claimed there was no place in his sport for those involved in MMA.

"Anyone [in judo] caught teaching MMA, will be removed from the French Judo Federation," he said in an interview published in L'Equipe.

"MMA is illegal in France.

"All those who teach do not have the right and are liable to be written off.

"They put the Federation in trouble and if there is serious injury, it will be my fault."

Judo officials have become increasingly concerned about the talent drain from its sport to the more financially lucrative MMA, most notably American Ronda Rousey, the Beiing 2008 Olympic bronze medallist. 

Last year, International Judo Federation (IJF) President Marius Vizer had warned that a migration of judokas to other sports would represent a "spiritual contamination" of the sport amid fears that top stars were being lured to mixed martial arts.

A controversial sponsorship agreement between the British Judo Association (BJA) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship led to Glasgow being stripped of its rights to host this year's European Judo Championships. 

French Judo Federation President Jean-Luc Rogue has warned anyone involved in MMA will be banned from the sport ©Getty Images

Rouge, a former world champion in the under 93 kilogram category, has claimed that MMA has no place on a sports programme.

"These new combat sports [MMA] seem like they come out of a video game," Rouge, who is also the general secretary of the IJF, told L'Equipe.

"These guys are stupid enough to kill each other in front of everyone in a cage and they are well paid, so they would accept.

"Sport is not war!

"We must be able to shake hands and go have a beer together in the end."

Rouge's comments were condemned by Bertrand Amoussou, a fellow Frenchman who is President of the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation.  

"As a judoka, I am saddened because I know that the opinion of French Judo President Rougé is not the opinion of all the followers of judo in France," said Amoussou, a bronze medallist at the 1990 European Judo Championships. 

"Judo coaches that teach MMA have found that this new discipline is a way of developing their clubs by welcoming both older and new participants.

"It is significant that 80 per cent of the 515,000 participants of judo in France are under-12 years old.

"Also many judo teachers have multi-discipline academies which allow for them to teach other disciplines besides judo."

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