The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on July 15 dismissed Russia’s appeals of decisions by soccer governing bodies FIFA and UEFA to ban them from all competition after the country's invasion of Ukraine.
The CAS ruling upholds the decisions in February by European soccer’s governing body UEFA and global soccer’s governing body FIFA to exclude the Russian national and club teams.
FIFA and UEFA decided shortly after the invasion that all Russian teams would be suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions. CAS in March rejected a request from the Russian soccer federation to freeze FIFA's suspension, which ended Russia’s hopes of competing in the 2022 World Cup.
The Football Union of Russia (FUR) and a group of Russian clubs appealed to CAS against the ban. Six appeals in all were lodged -- one by the FUR against FIFA, one by the FUR against UEFA, and one each from four clubs, Zenit St. Petersburg, Dynamo Moscow, FC Sochi, and CSKA Moscow, against UEFA.
The CAS panel determined that in all cases the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the worldwide response “created unforeseen and unprecedented circumstances to which FIFA and UEFA had to respond."
In determining that Russian teams and clubs should be barred from FIFA and UEFA competitions under their aegis, the panel held that both parties acted “within the scope of the discretion granted to them under their respective statutes and regulations."
CAS also said its panel found it unfortunate that the current situation for which Russian soccer teams, clubs, and players have no responsibility had such an adverse effect on them and on Russian soccer generally.
Those effects, however, are “offset by the need for the secure and orderly conduct of football events for the rest of the world,” CAS ruled.
The written decision did not refer to the fighting as an invasion or a war -- terms rejected by Russia, which calls its actions a “special military operation.”
Russia's national soccer federation said it “strongly disagrees with the CAS decision and reserves the right to continue protecting its own interests.” Next steps could include a demand for compensation or a new appeal to the Swiss supreme court.
The decision had been widely anticipated by Russian clubs. They have been making plans to schedule domestic cup games on the dates when European games will be played next season.
Belarusian national teams and clubs can still compete, but UEFA has insisted any home matches involving sides from that country must be played in a neutral territory and with no spectators.