Court of Arbitration for Sport upholds FIFA's ban on Russia's participation in World Cup

In a recent development, the Court of arbitration upheld FIFA's ban on Russia's participation in the 2022 World Cup later this year in Qatar. Earlier, the UEFA and FIFA stated that the Russian national team and clubs had been banned from all competitions "until further notice".

They took the decision after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had urged the apex bodies to not include Russian athletes and officials in international tournaments. The IOC clearly stated that banning the country was needed to “protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants.”

Russia banned from both club and international football

Earlier, countries like Poland, Albania, Sweden and the Czech Republic showed their reluctance to lock horns with Russia. Russian sports have found themselves in the doldrums after the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Previously, FIFA talked about staying in touch with the IOC regarding Russia's exclusion from championships “should the situation not be improving rapidly.”

FIFA had earlier faced criticism for allowing Russia to finish their upcoming matches at neutral venues with the title "Football Union of Russia", and without their anthem and flag. After the announcement from the IOC, UEFA also banned Russian teams from its competitions.

On Tuesday, March 15, the CAS also upheld UEFA's ban on participating in tournaments. "The challenged decision remains in force and all Russian teams and clubs continue to be suspended from participation in UEFA competitions," a CAS statement read.

"The CAS decisions on the requests to stay the execution of the FIFA decisions for the duration of the CAS proceedings are likely to be issued at the end of this week," the statement added.

Spartak Moscow were unable to play their Europa League round of 16 tie with RB Leipzig after the decision taken by UEFA and FIFA.

(Image: AP)