CAS rejects Russia's request not to uphold UEFA suspensions

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) "denied" a request Tuesday by the Russian governing football body not to uphold UEFA suspensions as that country was excluded from competitions because of Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

"The President of the Appeals Arbitration Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has denied the request filed by the Football Union of Russia (FUR) to stay, for the duration of the CAS proceedings, the execution of the UEFA Executive Committee’s decision to suspend all Russian teams and clubs from its competitions until further notice (the Challenged Decision)," CAS said in a statement.

The court said the UEFA decision is valid as all Russian teams and clubs are still "suspended" from the UEFA competitions.

"The CAS arbitration proceedings continue. The parties did not agree to an expedited procedure and a hearing has not yet been fixed," it said.

The FUR appealed on March 8 to the CAS after Russia was kicked out of FIFA and UEFA competitions because of the war.

Spartak Moscow were previously disqualified from the 2021-22 UEFA Europa League Round of 16 after UEFA barred Russian clubs from international football competitions.

On the women's side, the country cannot join the UEFA EURO 2022 in England from July 6 - 31.

CAS said decisions about Russia’s request about the FIFA decisions "are likely to be issued at the end of this week."

Russia's opponents in the 2022 FIFA World Cup European playoffs semifinals, Poland, were awarded a "bye" by FIFA to the final path on March 29.

That means Russia have been automatically eliminated from the Qatar 2022 qualifiers.

Poland will face Sweden or the Czech Republic in the Path B final.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which began Feb. 24, has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow and spurred an exodus of global firms from Russia.

At least 636 civilians have been killed and 1,125 injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

More than 3 million refugees have fled to neighboring countries, according to the UN.