The Russian Football Union has vowed to appeal its ban from international competitions with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Russian soccer’s governing body said in a statement released Thursday “that FIFA and UEFA did not have a legal basis when deciding on the removal of Russian teams,” BBC Sport reports. The union added it would seek “compensation for damage” the suspension caused.
FIFA and UEFA imposed the ban for an indefinite period on Monday while expressing “full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine” after Russia began its invasion of the country on Feb. 24. The statement added that the presidents of FIFA and UEFA “hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and rapidly so that football can again be a vector for unity and peace amongst people.”
The punishment means Russia is unable to participate in March’s qualification playoffs for the men’s World Cup and will not compete in this summer’s European Women’s Championship. Spartak Moscow were also removed from the Europa League – European football’s secondary club competition – after reaching the round of 16.
In Thursday’s statement, the Russian Football Union complained it was “not given the right to present its position, which violated the fundamental right to defense.”
The statement continued, “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.”
The union blamed pressure from direct rivals for contributing to Russia’s removal from World Cup qualifiers. The men’s team was set to face Poland in a playoff semifinal on March 24, with the winner of that fixture meeting Sweden or the Czech Republic in the playoff final five days later, but last week, those three national teams refused to play qualifying matches against Russia.
