Sports Supreme Court is dealing with Russian appeals over multiple bans following Ukraine invasion

Russian federations and athletes have filed several legal challenges to challenge their bans on international sporting events because their country is at war with Ukraine.

The Arbitration Court for Sport said Tuesday that Russian officials have appealed the governing bodies in football, figure skating and speed skating, gymnastics, rowing, rugby and biathlon.

The figure skating appeal involves Olympic silver medalists in pairs Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, who took to the stage at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium last month for a rally in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the invasion.

Russian Olympic officials have also challenged the European Olympic Committee’s exclusion of teams and athletes from its youth multisport events.

Removed from World Cup qualifiers

The high-profile football legal case saw FIFA banning Russian sides from its global competitions, excluding the men’s national team from World Cup qualifiers last month. Poland qualified for the World Cup last week after picking up a bye against Russia in the playoff semifinals.

Judges are now being selected for the Russian football appeal, CAS said, although “no procedural calendar has yet been established”.

A separate appeal has been filed against a UEFA ban of Russian national and club teams from European competitions and the two football cases could be merged.

Although Russian teams and athletes are almost completely banned from international competitions, few Olympic sports have suspended their Russian member federation. Russian officials were able to attend the FIFA Congress of Member States in Qatar last week.

The International Olympic Committee has also declined to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee or its two members from Russia – Yelena Isinbayeva, the world record holder in the women’s pole vault, and Shamil Tarpishchev.