Russian Football Union to appeal to CAS over FIFA and UEFA suspensions
Team Russia at 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier match between Slovenia and Russia in Maribor, Slovenia (Photo by Jurij Kodrun/Getty Images)
LAUSANNE, March 4, 2022 – The Russian Football Union has announced in an official statement on Thursday that it will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, against the exclusion of all Russian national teams from international competitions by FIFA and UEFA. The statement highlighted the ongoing European playoffs for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, where Russia was scheduled to face Poland on home soil on March 24.
UEFA and FIFA decided on Monday to bar the Russian Football Union from participating in all competitions in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine. The statement from both governing bodies read: "Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which envisaged the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice."
The Russian Union in its statement demanded the reinstatement of its men's and women's national teams in all competitions, calling on CAS to act swiftly on this case as time is ticking with three weeks to the scheduled match against Poland, whose national federation announced that the Polish team will not face the Russians under any circumstances.
The Russian Union considered that FIFA and UEFA had no "legal basis" to execute this exclusion, which was taken "under pressure" from rival associations such as the Polish Football Association. Meanwhile, Russia condemns the "discriminatory" measures taken "on a large number of athletes, coaches and employees of clubs and national teams."
Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin announced taking a similar procedure to the one made by Russian football to impose sports justice for Russia to return to the Winter Paralympics, which opened this Friday, expressing his hope for a decision "before the opening ceremony". Russian and Belarusian athletes were excluded from participating at the Games by the International Paralympic Committee.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be held in Qatar between November 21 and December 18, and the Russians had a chance to qualify with a victory over Poland in the semi-finals of the third round of the European playoffs, alongside the winner of the second semi-final between Czech and Sweden at the end of this month.
Russia, which hosted the last World Cup in 2018, has been the target of multiple sanctions from the sports world since the start of its military invasion of Ukraine, from cancelled competitions, which Russia was due to host, the exclusion of its national athletes and teams to the termination of sponsorship contracts expressing worldwide protest against war.
UEFA and FIFA decided on Monday to bar the Russian Football Union from participating in all competitions in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine. The statement from both governing bodies read: "Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which envisaged the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice."
The Russian Union in its statement demanded the reinstatement of its men's and women's national teams in all competitions, calling on CAS to act swiftly on this case as time is ticking with three weeks to the scheduled match against Poland, whose national federation announced that the Polish team will not face the Russians under any circumstances.
The Russian Union considered that FIFA and UEFA had no "legal basis" to execute this exclusion, which was taken "under pressure" from rival associations such as the Polish Football Association. Meanwhile, Russia condemns the "discriminatory" measures taken "on a large number of athletes, coaches and employees of clubs and national teams."
Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin announced taking a similar procedure to the one made by Russian football to impose sports justice for Russia to return to the Winter Paralympics, which opened this Friday, expressing his hope for a decision "before the opening ceremony". Russian and Belarusian athletes were excluded from participating at the Games by the International Paralympic Committee.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be held in Qatar between November 21 and December 18, and the Russians had a chance to qualify with a victory over Poland in the semi-finals of the third round of the European playoffs, alongside the winner of the second semi-final between Czech and Sweden at the end of this month.
Russia, which hosted the last World Cup in 2018, has been the target of multiple sanctions from the sports world since the start of its military invasion of Ukraine, from cancelled competitions, which Russia was due to host, the exclusion of its national athletes and teams to the termination of sponsorship contracts expressing worldwide protest against war.
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