The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected Russia's appeal of a ban imposed on it by FIFA, world soccer's governing body, for Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Sport's top court said in a statement on March 18 that the "challenged decision remains in force and all Russian teams and clubs continue to be suspended from participation in FIFA competitions."
The court's ruling means that Russia will not be allowed to participate in the playoffs for a spot in the 2022 World Cup finals.
Russia had asked the court to suspend the ban while the CAS considers the legal basis of the punishment.
The CAS said in its statement that those proceedings continue, with the parties in the case exchanging written submissions with their arguments. A hearing date has yet to be set.
Russian was to face Poland in a qualifying playoff match on March 24.
Because of the ban, FIFA has already ruled that Poland wins by forfeit and will move on in the qualifying process.
Days after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Poland said it would not play Russia in protest at the attack. Sweden and the Czech Republic, who are in the same qualifying path as Russia, had both ruled out playing against Russia as well.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to multiple decisions across international sport to exclude Russian athletes or cancel events scheduled to take place in Russia.
The decisions have also affected athletes from Belarus, which has provided a staging area for the Russian Army to launch its operations.
The World Cup finals are scheduled to begin in November in Qatar.
