The ban on Russian football teams appearing in UEFA competitions has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS.
The urgent CAS ruling does not apply to Russia’s chances of being reinstated for FIFA World Cup qualifying, however, as the interim judgment comes before a full hearing in the weeks ahead.
READ ALS: UK freezes assets of seven Russian oligarchs including Roman Abramovich
FIFA initially stated that Russia would be able to continue to play under the ‘Football Union of Russia’ name and without the Russian flag or anthem being present at international matches.
But FIFA then released a joint statement with UEFA on announcing Russia’s national teams — plus its clubs — were banned from all competitions.
Russia’s only remaining team in European club competition at the time of UEFA’s announcement, Spartak Moscow, were subsequently thrown out of the Europa League.
German club RB Leipzig instead progressed to the next round of the tournament by default.
READ ALSO: Ukraine crisis: FIFA, UEFA ban all Russian clubs and national teams
FIFA last week awarded a bye to Poland in World Cup qualifying. The Polish FA and their players said they would refuse to play Russia.
CAS could yet decide to overturn FIFA and UEFA’s decision when it makes its full judgment, which would see Russia reinstated. But Tuesday’s interim verdict perhaps gives an indication of how the court might also act on the Russian request to freeze the FIFA ban.
TheAthletic