Russian Football Union May Ask For Europa League & World Cup To Be Suspended

The Russian Football Union has vowed to appeal the ban imposed on its domestic and international teams by UEFA and FIFA at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

European soccer governing body UEFA and its global equivalent FIFA published a joint statement on Monday, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The statement declared that the Russian national team and all Russian clubs would be banned from international competition "until further notice".

As a result, Spartak Moscow will be eliminated from the Europa League, with RB Leipzig handed a bye to the quarter-finals, while the Russian men's national team will be denied the chance to compete in a World Cup qualifying playoff event this month.

The Russian Football Union said in a statement on Thursday, as reported by Reuters, that it will consider demanding the suspension of the Europa League and Europe's World Cup qualifiers if their appeal to CAS is unsuccessful.

A picture of the UEFA Europa League trophy

IMAGO/AFLOSPORT

"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," read the statement.

The Russian football authorities also said in the statement that it "believes that FIFA and UEFA did not have a legal basis when deciding on the removal of Russian teams".

It continued: "The Russian Football Union 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 complete exclusion of participants from the competition from Russia."

Russia had been scheduled to play Poland, with the winner then due to play Sweden or the Czech Republic for a place at Qatar 2022.

But the football governing bodies of three nations said that they would refuse to play Russia.