Russian teams remain Barred from European competitions
Russian football teams remain excluded from participation in the European football competitions for the time being due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That is what the international sports tribunal CAS determined on Tuesday in an appeal case brought by the Russian football association FUR.
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It is not yet clear why the International Sports Tribunal rejected the Russian Football Association’s objection. A statement of reasons for the decision has not been published.
The exclusion of the Russian teams means that Spartak Moscow will be permanently expelled from the Europa League and the Russian women’s team will not be welcome at next summer’s European Championships in England.
At that tournament, Russia is in the group stage groupmate of the Oranjevrouwen. The Spartak Moscow of former Ajax player Quincy Promes would play in the eighth finals of the Europa League against RB Leipzig.
The CAS will decide next week whether the suspension of Russian teams for matches that fall under the flag of world football association FIFA will remain in place.
That ruling is long awaited, because Russia is also excluded from participating in the play-offs for a World Cup ticket.
The Russians were supposed to play Poland in the semi-finals of the play-offs on March 24, but have been kicked out of the tournament.
Russian teams remain Barred from European competitions after appeal
IOC called on unions to ban Russia
With the exclusion of Russia, UEFA and FIFA responded to a call from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which urged sports federations around the world to ban Russia and Belarus from tournaments because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Many sports associations followed the example of UEFA and FIFA.
The Russian Football Association reacted strongly to the exclusion. “This decision is contrary to the norms and values of international competition, as well as to the spirit of the sport,” the association said. “The measure has a clearly discriminatory character and harms a large number of athletes, coaches, employees of clubs and above all millions of Russian and foreign fans.”
The KNVB itself already decided to no longer play with the national teams against Russia and Belarus, which supports the Russian invasion.
That means that the Oranjevrouwen avoid the match against Belarus on April 12 in the qualification series for the 2023 World Cup.
