Russian Football Union particularise appeal over FIFA, UEFA ban

The Russian Football Union ('RFU') have particularised their intended appeal, which they say will be lodged to the Court of Arbitration for Sport ('CAS') to challenge the FIFA and UEFA decision to ban their teams from international competition.

The appeal would be in response to UEFA and FIFA's decision-making last week. First, they announced that Russia would play upcoming World Cup qualifying matches at neutral venues and under a neutral name. Though in a backflip, forced due to external criticism and pressure, they adopted the harsher measure to suspend the Russian Federation indefinitely, including Russian teams from tournaments like the Champions and Europa Leagues.

The FIFA and UEFA sanction- seen as one of the most significant against Russia as it prevents their men's national team from qualifying for this year's World Cup- has been one of a raft of sporting sanctions directed at Russia and Belarus for their involvement in the invasion of Ukraine.

The RFU has outlined their intention to launch a single action against both governing bodies to overturn the bans, they detailed in a statement.

"As part of a single lawsuit against two organisations, 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)," the statement read.

"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."

"The Russian Football Union was also not given the right to present its position, which violated the fundamental right to defence."

According to the statement, the RFU will additionally seek relief of compensation and the suspension of the competitions they have been barred from competing in.

According to FIFA Legal, Article 54 of the FIFA Statutes mandates the newly created Football Tribunal is- depending on how the appealed decision is characterised- the first-instance body to pass decisions relating to football-related disputes rather than a direct application to CAS.

There has been no confirmation yet from CAS the RFU has lodged any form of application.

After a week of escalating sporting sanctions, second-guessing by administrators and ultimately harsh measures, Russia is now a sporting pariah. A review of the sanctions currently imposed against Russian(and Belarussian) athletes, culminating in para-athletes being barred from competing at the Wint…

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