Court of Arbitration for Sport upholds UEFA's decision to suspend Russian clubs

Russia's appeal against UEFA’s decision to suspend all its teams and clubs from its competitions has been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Football Union of Russia had asked for the decision – which included the expulsion of Spartak Moscow from the last 16 of the Europa League – to be waived pending the outcome of a full hearing.

But the CAS dismissed the move, saying in a statement that the ruling could remain in place. The result of a parallel appeal against FIFA’s decision to throw Russia out of the 2022 World Cup is set to be issued before the end of this week.

The CAS said in a statement: "The president of the appeals arbitration division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has denied the request filed by the Football Union of Russia (FUR) to stay, for the duration of the CAS proceedings, the execution of the UEFA executive committee’s decision to suspend all Russian teams and clubs from its competitions until further notice.

"Consequently, the challenged decision remains in force and all Russian teams and clubs continue to be suspended from participation in UEFA competitions."

In the ban imposed on 28 February, and issued as a joint statement with FIFA, UEFA also announced that this year’s Champions League final would be moved from St Petersburg to Paris.

The statement added: "Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine.

"Both presidents hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and rapidly so that football can again be a vector for unity and peace amongst people."