The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has published the motivational part of the decision to exclude Russian clubs from participating in tournaments under the auspices of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The lawsuit demanding the cancellation of UEFA’s decision was filed back in May last year by four clubs in the Russian Premier League – Zenit, CSKA, Dynamo and Sochi. A year later, CAS clarified that there is no discrimination in the actions of UEFA and the union did not violate the principle of political neutrality, nor did it make “disproportionate or discriminatory” decisions. The plaintiffs’ reference to the fact that international sports federations did not suspend Russians in a number of other sports was found irrelevant due to the special status of football, which is subject to “excessive crowd reaction” on the basis of “racism, nationalism and religious intolerance.”