Russia remains excluded from major European football competitions, including the Champions League, after the Sports Arbitration Tribunal dismissed appeals from the National Football Federation and four clubs. The Tas of Lausanne confirmed the decisions of Uefa and Fifa which excluded Russian national teams and clubs following the invasion of Ukraine. Russia was already excluded from qualifying for the men’s World Cup, the women’s European Championships and their clubs will now not be present in competitions such as the Champions League in 2022-23.
“The jury considers it regrettable that the current military operations in Ukraine, for which Russian teams, clubs and football players have no responsibility, have had, due to the decisions of FIFA and UEFA, such a negative effect on them and a general on football in Russia, but these effects were, according to the jury, offset by the need for a safe and orderly conduct of football events for the rest of the world, ”the TAS ruled.
The decision leaves Russian champions Zenit St. Petersburg out of the Champions League group stage. Another Russian team, Sochi, will be excluded from the draw for the third qualifying round of the Champions League, scheduled for Monday. Had Russia been allowed to take part in the tournament, it was unclear where the home games could be hosted or whether Ukrainian clubs would also boycott the event. Tas will be called upon to decide on other cases involving Russian athletes and teams in numerous other sports. Many other Federations have justified the exclusion of Russia for security reasons similar to those cited by UEFA.