Russia-Ukraine crisis: Russian football federation to appeal to CAS against FIFA World Cup ban

Russian football federation on Thursday said that it will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decisions by FIFA and UEFA to bar Russian national teams from international competitions over the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian football federation said in a statement it would file one lawsuit against the two governing bodies to demand that Russian men’s and women’s national teams be allowed to compete, including in qualifying for this year’s World Cup in Qatar.

It was earlier stated by FIFA that Russia would be able to continue to play under the ‘Football Union or Russia’ name, and without their flag or anthem being present at matches.

But world football’s governing body then released a joint statement with UEFA on Monday announcing Russia’s national teams and its clubs were banned from all competitions.

Russia were due to play Poland in a World Cup qualifier later this month, with the winner of the tie playing either Sweden or the Czech Republic for a place at the finals in Qatar, but all three nations refused to face them.

Following rising tension between Russia and Ukraine, the sports fraternity has become proactive and many events in Russia have been cancelled, including the Russian Grand Prix.

The Champions League final has also been moved out of Russia and it will now take place in Paris.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday had announced a military operation in Ukraine and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to “consequences they have never seen.”