It will therefore be up to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to settle this unprecedented dispute, in a political context which has swept away in a few days the neutrality long claimed by the sporting world.

In the immediate future, the court based in Lausanne must rule on the FUR's request to suspend the exclusion decreed last week by Fifa and UEFA, to allow its selection to compete in the World Cup play-offs at the end of March. 2022.

On the merits, the CAS opened "two separate procedures", respectively targeting Fifa and UEFA by associating about fifteen national federations which refuse to face the Russians, he explains in a press release.

This is particularly the case for the Poles, opponents of "Sbornaïa" in the semi-finals of the play-off to access the Qatari World Cup (November 21-December 18), and who ruled out participating in this confrontation even before FIFA's decision. .

What rationale?

The CAS should communicate “in the coming days” more details on the timetable and the modalities of these appeals, as well as on their possible suspensive effects.

Beyond the immediate stakes for Russian football teams and clubs, this is the first recourse against the rain of sanctions that has fallen on Russian sport since last week.

Plaque in front of the premises of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, December 17, 2020 in Lausanne Fabrice COFFRINI AFP / Archives

On the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and after several days of procrastination, football authorities suspended Russian teams and clubs "until further notice" last Monday.

In addition to the men's national team, quarter-finalists of the 2018 World Cup played at home and deprived of the following edition, the women's selection is therefore excluded from the Euro in England, in July, and Spartak Moscow from the Europa League.

Lapidary, the joint press release from UEFA and Fifa did not mention any justification drawn from their statutes, triggering a legal debate on the regularity of this sanction.

The two organizations simply pointed out that "the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee" were "the highest decision-making bodies of these two organizations when it comes to urgent matters".

Sensitive file

"This decision violates the fundamental rights of the Russian Federation" and was taken "under pressure from its direct opponents", replied the FUR, denouncing "discriminatory" and unfair sanctions for athletes.

In the process, the Russians and partly the Belarusians - whose territory was used to invade Ukraine - were banned from international competitions in athletics, ice hockey, rugby, basketball, cycling, skiing alpine or climbing.

Russia has also been excluded from the Paralympic Winter Games, which have been held since Friday in Beijing, on the eve of the opening ceremony, in the face of tensions in the athletes' village and threats of boycotts from other nations.

The CAS, already criticized by part of Western sport in recent years for its management of Russian doping, has an extremely sensitive file in its hands: a reintegration of Russian football would create new difficulties, for lack of opponents willing to meet them.

Conversely, a validation of these sanctions would open a new line for the sporting world, now likely to react to each illegal conflict after having been reluctant for decades to venture into the political arena.

© 2022 AFP