Russian Football Union Appeals To Court Against FIFA And UEFA Sport Ban
The Russian Football Union said on Thursday it will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the rulings by FIFA and UEFA to ban Russian national teams from international competitions over it’s attack on Ukraine.
In a statement, the union said it would file one lawsuit against the two governing bodies to charge that Russian men’s and women’s national teams be permitted to compete, including in qualifying for this year’s World Cup in Qatar.
Both FIFA and UEFA removed Russia from all their fixtures until ‘football can again be a vector for unity and peace amongst people’, it said in a joint statement corroborating the move.
This is meant to further isolate the country’s sporting situation.
According to a statement from the RFU on Thursday: ‘The Russian Football Union will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne against the decision taken by FIFA and UEFA to remove the Russian national teams from participation in international competitions.
”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), as well as compensation for damage, if any will be installed.” The statement read.
The RFU contends FIFA and UEFA violated fundamental rights, sporting principle and fair play when it took away the right of Russian clubs and national teams to compete.
It prompted an expedited procedure to occur with its case in order to allow its clubs and international sides to compete in upcoming fixtures, which did include qualifiers for the Qatar World Cup later this month.
”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,’ the statement added.
”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 RFU feels FIFA and UEFA did not give them a fundamental right to make a defence of their position, adding: ‘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.
”Other details of filing an appeal, including the timing of the consideration of the claim, will be announced later.’
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