Euro Backlash As FIFA Refuses to Expel Russia from Football
SnopesSep 14, 2021
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.