March 18 – Russia’s participation in the World Cup in Qatar is almost certainly over after a move to temporarily freeze their FIFA ban was rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Russia wanted their suspension from the global game put on hold pending the outcome of an appeal ahead of next week’s World Cup qualifying playoffs when they were due to play Poland.
However, CAS announced today that the Russian request had been rejected and that the suspension remained in force.
Russia were in a four-team play-off path also featuring Sweden and Czech Republic. Poland have been granted a bye to the final on March 29.
The Russian soccer federation could still technically get the FIFA ban overturned before the next round of international games in early June. An ultimate victory at CAS, whenever it comes, could force this month’s playoffs to be replayed but such a scenario seems highly unlikely.
The latest ruling follows a similar CAS refusal to overturn UEFA’s ban on Russian national and club teams playing in Europe.
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