Russia Will Appeal to Court of Arbitration for Sport Against FIFA, UEFA Ban

    Image copyright: AFP [via Slate Magazine]

    The Facts

    • The Russian Football Union has said it will appeal to CAS against a blanket ban imposed by FIFA and UEFA on Russian national clubs.

    • Russia has faced a series of sports sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, including from World Athletics, who banned both Russian and Belarusian athletes from competions earlier this week.


    The Spin

    Anti-Russia narrative

    Recent bans sucessfully increase pressure on Russia over their unjust invasion of Ukraine by delivering a financial and psychological blow. They compromise the image Putin and his allies carefully cultivated of a prosperous and fortified nation.

    Pro-Russia narrative

    These actions as discriminatory; they're contrary to the principle that international sports should be independent of politics, and they also unfairly harm millions of Russian and foreign fans and sport itself.

    Establishment-critical narrative

    Sometimes money and alliances matter more that human rights: Nobody is blocking Saudi Arabia from sports or from buying Newcastle United, despite their brutal war on Yemen.


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