MOSCOW, 28 Feb. The Russian Football Union (RFU) does not agree with the decision of FIFA and UEFA to suspend Russian teams from participation in international matches for an indefinite period and reserves the right to challenge it in accordance with the norms of international sports legislation, according to the website of the organization. On Monday, the International Football Federation ( FIFA) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) have suspended Russian teams and clubs from participating in all international competitions. «We believe that this decision is contrary to the norms and principles of international competitions, as well as the spirit of sports. It is obviously discriminatory and damaging a huge number of athletes, coaches, employees of clubs and national teams, and most importantly, millions of Russian and foreign fans, whose interests international sports organizations must protect in the first place,» the statement says. «Such actions split the world sports community, which has always prider lived the principles of equality, mutual respect and independence from politics. We reserve the right to challenge the decision of FIFA and UEFA in accordance with the norms of international sports law,» the RFU said in a release. The Russian men's team was supposed to play with the Polish team in Moscow on March 24 in the semi-finals of the play-off tournament for reaching the final of the 2022 World Cup in the other semi-final between Sweden and the Czech Republic.The winner of the tournament will qualify for the World Championship, which will be held from November 21 to December 18 in Qatar. In the 1/8 finals of the Europa League, Moscow «Spartak» was supposed to play with the German «Leipzig». On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had decided on a special military operation of the Russian Federation to demilitarize Ukraine. In a televised address to the Russians, he said that circumstances «demand decisive and immediate action from us, the people's republics of Donbass turned to Russia with a request for help.» February 21 Utin signed decrees recognizing the sovereignty of the LPR and the DPR.
