February 24 – The Russian Football Union’s (RFU) has had its appeal to the Swiss Supreme Court over the suspension of its national teams and clubs from international tournaments dismissed as it missed the deadline.
“The appeal was filed late and therefore cannot be considered,” said a court statement.
“Therefore, the judge declared the appeal inadmissible.
“No costs are charged or awarded.
“This decision is brought to the attention of the parties and CAS.”
FIFA and UEFA suspended Russian national and club teams from participating in international competitions on February 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine.
The RFU appealed the ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) but lost. It then went to the Swiss Supreme Court which can overturn CAS rulings, but only on matters of procedure.
The rules of the Swiss court require appeals to be logged within 30 days, however the RFU did not meet the deadline.
The RFU has discussed applying to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for membership and working its way back into international competition that route, but backed away from pursuing that route.
The Russian Under-17 women’s team have been granted entry to the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship having had a request to participate accepted by the sub-regional confederation.
The tournament, which in 2022 was played in September in Nepal and won by Bangladesh, is scheduled to be hosted in Dhakar, Bangladesh, March 20-28 this year.
The Swiss court setback for the Russians sees another door close on them and leaves them few avenues left to return to the international football community while they continue their military assault on Ukraine.
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