Daily Breeze (Torrance)

More Russian bans

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Russian soccer teams were kicked out of the Women's European Championsh­ip, the next men's Champions League and qualifying for the 2023 Women's World Cup by UEFA.

The latest round of sporting sanctions during Russia's war on Ukraine follow FIFA and UEFA suspending Russian national and club teams in February from playing in internatio­nal competitio­ns, including the men's World

Cup playoffs.

Those previous decisions — made as countries across Europe refused to play games against Russia — are under appeal at the Court of Arbitratio­n for Sport by the Russian Football Union, and the latest expulsions are also likely to be challenged.

UEFA said Portugal will take Russia's place in the Women's Euro 2022 being hosted by England in July. Russia qualified by beating Portugal in the playoffs round.

Russian Premier League winner Zenit St. Petersburg's place in the next Champions League group stage will go instead to the champion of Scotland, according to UEFA's updated list of allocated entries.

A Champions League place is worth tens of millions of euros (dollars) in UEFA prize money to Zenit, which is owned by Russian state energy firm Gazprom. UEFA has also terminated sponsor deals with Gazprom and moved this season's Champions League final from Zenit's home stadium to Paris.

Russia also will not have entries in next season's Europa League and Europa Conference League. Clubs likely to miss out include Dynamo Moscow, Sochi and CSKA Moscow.

UEFA said its executive committee took the latest decisions for its competitio­ns to “ensure their smooth staging in a safe and secure environmen­t for all those concerned.”

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