The Russian Football Union will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the ban on its national teams and clubs from international competitions.
FIFA and UEFA, the governing bodies of the world and European games respectively, announced on Monday that Russian teams would be excluded from their events “until further notice” following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
This means that Russia are banned from participating in this month’s men’s World Cup qualifying play-offs and UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 this summer. Spartak Moscow have also been removed from the Europa League.
The RFU announced on Thursday it will challenge this ruling in a single lawsuit against FIFA and UEFA.
A statement read: “The RFU will demand the restoration of all men’s and women’s national teams of Russia in all types of football in the tournaments in which they took part (including in the qualifying round of the World Cup in Qatar), as well as compensation for damage.
“In order to ensure the possibility of the participation of Russian teams in the next scheduled matches, the RFU will insist on an expedited procedure for considering the case.
“If FIFA and UEFA refuse such a procedure, a requirement will be put forward for the introduction of interim measures in the form of suspension of FIFA and UEFA decisions, as well as competitions in which Russian teams were supposed to participate.
“The RFU believes that FIFA and UEFA did not have a legal basis when deciding on the removal of Russian teams. It violated the fundamental rights of the RFU as a member of FIFA and UEFA, including the right to take part in competitions.
“In addition, the decision to withdraw the national team from qualification for the 2022 World Cup was made under pressure from direct rivals in the play-offs, which violated the principle of sports and the rules of fair play.
“The Russian Football Union was also not given the right to present its position, which violated the fundamental right to defence. In addition, when making decisions, FIFA and UEFA did not take into account other possible options for action, except for the complete exclusion of participants from the competition from Russia.”
Poland, Russia’s first opponents in the World Cup qualifying play-offs, along with Sweden and the Czech Republic, had all refused to play against Russia. A number of other countries had also said they would boycott matches against Russia in the current circumstances.
