Russian football chiefs lose appeal against UEFA ban
The Russian Football Union (RFU) has failed in its bid to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn a UEFA ban on teams from competing in top competitions including the Champions League and Nations League.
The governing body for European football suspended the Russian national side and club teams in a ruling four days after the attack on Ukraine began on February 24.
In a joint statement with world counterpart FIFA, which also suspended Russian teams, UEFA said it wanted the conflict to ease "significantly and rapidly" and called for football to act as "a vector for unity and peace amongst people."
The RFU's appeal was dismissed by a CAS interim judgement on Tuesday, pending a full appeal hearing within weeks.
The ruling could be an indicator of how the CAS will view the RFU's separate appeal against the ban from FIFA.
Russia's elimination from the Qatar 2022 World Cup would effectively be confirmed if the CAS upholds FIFA's verdict.
Valeri Karpin's side had been due to host Poland in a one-off World Cup playoff semifinal on March 24 in Moscow, where victory would have set them up to play the winners of the concurrent match between Sweden and the Czech Republic in a final qualification decider five days later.
Karpin is holding a training camp with his squad but has described the chances of the crucial matches taking place as a "hopeless situation".
FIFA have awarded a semifinal bye to Poland, who had joined Russia's two potential opponents in announcing their refusal to play against the 2018 World Cup hosts.
Spartak Moscow, who had been due to play RB Leipzig in a round of 16 tie, were ousted from the Europa League because of UEFA's decision.
The Russian Premier League club responded by making their disagreement with the sanction clear, saying it was "very upsetting".
UEFA also moved the Champions League final in May from St. Petersburg to Paris.
Russian teams and athletes have been suspended by dozens of sporting organizations since the start of the conflict.
