The Russian Football Federation (RFU) has announced that it has taken the decision to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne against the decision made by FIFA and UEFA to exclude the men’s and women’s teams from international competitions. . This was announced by the Russian Federation itself through a statement on its website: “The Russian Football Union will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne against the decision made by FIFA and UEFA to withdraw the Russian national teams from international competitions. As part of a single lawsuit against two organizations, the RFU will demand the reinstatement of all Russian men’s and women’s national teams in all types of football in the tournaments in which they participated (including the qualifying phase for the World Cup in Qatar), as well as the Compensation for damages, if any.
To ensure the possibility of the participation of Russian teams in the next scheduled matches, the RFU will insist on an accelerated procedure to consider the case. If FIFA and UEFA reject 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 had no legal basis in deciding on the elimination of the Russian teams. It violated the fundamental rights of the RFU as a member of FIFA and UEFA, including the right to participate in competitions. What’s more, the decision to withdraw the national team from qualifying for the 2022 World Cup was made under pressure from direct rivals in the play-offs, which violated the principle of sport and the rules of fair play.
The Russian Football Federation was also not given the right to present its position, which violated the fundamental right to defense. In addition, when making decisions, FIFA and UEFA did not take into account other possible options for action, except for the total exclusion of the participants from the Russian competition. Other details of filing an appeal, including the timing of consideration of the claim, will be announced at a later date.”
Russia accuses FIFA and UEFA of being influenced
The Russian Federation is very harsh in its statement since accuses FIFA and UEFA of making a decision without a legal basis to support it. Even accuses both organizations of allowing themselves to be influenced in their decision not to allow Russia to play the playoff for the World Cup in Qatar due to pressure from the rest of its rivals (Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic). At the same time, requests that Spartak Moscow, ruled out of the Europa League round of 16 tie against RB Leipizg, be reinstated. The same happens with the women’s soccer team that had to play the European Championship in England this summer and will not be able to participate either.