July 17 – The Russian Football Union (FUR) and four Russian clubs have lost appeals at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against bans from international and European football handed down by FIFA and UEFA following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement CAS said: “The panel determined that the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the public and government responses worldwide, created unforeseen and unprecedented circumstances to which Fifa and Uefa had to respond.
“In determining that Russian teams and clubs should not participate in competitions under their aegis while such circumstances persisted, the panel held that both parties acted within the scope of the discretion granted to them under their respective statutes and regulations,” the statement continued.
Russia’s clubs and national teams were suspended from all competitions by FIFA and UEFA in February.
Russia initially dropped an appeal against their exclusion from World Cup qualifying after a number of countries said they would refuse to play them. But the FUR continued with appeals against their international suspension from all competitions organised by FIFA and UEFA, including the women’s Euros which they had qualified for.
Zenit St Petersburg, Sochi, CSKA Moscow and Dynamo Moscow appealed against UEFA banning them from European club competition.
The CAS statement said: “The Panel finds it unfortunate that the current military operations in Ukraine, for which Russian football teams, clubs, and players have themselves no responsibility, had, by reason of the decisions of FIFA and UEFA, such an adverse effect on them and Russian football generally, but those effects were, in the Panel’s view, offset by the need for the secure and orderly conduct of football events for the rest of the world.”
The FUR said it may now appeal to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland.
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