Lausanne (AP) – After Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the Russian teams remain excluded from European football competitions for the time being.
According to a statement dated March 15, the International Court of Arbitration for Sports wants to decide at the end of the week whether Russian teams are still not allowed to take part in the competitions of the world association FIFA. This also affects Russia’s prospects for qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar this year, on which the Cas has not yet made a decision. On March 24, Russia was scheduled to play Poland in the playoff for the World Cup in Qatar.
Russia: sanctions “discriminatory”
The Russian association (RFU) had appealed to the Cas in Lausanne against the decisions of the world association FIFA and the European football union UEFA. The federations had decided to ban Russia from all competitions because of the invasion of Ukraine. The exclusion from the UEFA competitions now remains in place for the time being after the Cas decision. However, the proceedings of the Sports Court continue. A hearing has not yet been scheduled, the statement said.
Russia’s association had described the sanctions as “explicitly discriminatory” at the beginning of March and announced legal steps in sports. The aim of the appeal was the reintegration of all men’s and women’s teams into the tournaments – including qualification for the World Cup in Qatar – as well as compensation, the Russian association had announced.
According to its own statements, the Sports Court had initiated two separate arbitration proceedings and first obtained the statements of the defendants. The Russian association had demanded that the contested decisions by FIFA and UEFA be overturned. At the same time, the RFU had submitted an application to suspend the measures. This has now been rejected for the UEFA competitions.