The top four clubs in the Russian football league announced on Friday that they had filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against their ban from European competitions next season following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Zenit Saint Petersburg, Dynamo Moscow, Sochi and CSKA Moscow would all qualify for the men’s European competitions based on their current league positions. They said they requested that the case be heard in an expedited procedure. The draw for the first round of the Champions League qualifiers is scheduled for June 14.

“The actions against Russian clubs are based solely on their national affiliation, contradict sporting principles and are inherently discriminatory, as football ceases to be accessible to everyone,” Sochi said in a statement.

“We sincerely express our hope that the decision of the CAS corresponds to the sporting values ​​as defined by UEFA within the framework of its activities, and to the spirit of competition in football.”

The new deal joins legal offerings from Russian teams and federations across a host of different sports.

UEFA has banned Russian clubs from its competitions in a set of sanctions announced on May 2, which also excluded Russia’s women’s national team from this year’s European Championship and 2023 World Cup qualifying. The men’s national team was previously barred from this year’s World Cup qualifiers by FIFA after their opponents pledged to boycott matches.

The exclusion of the four clubs would create a ripple effect for teams across Europe in UEFA’s complex draw entry system based on domestic Champions League, Europa League and the Europa Conference League.

Russian Premier League winner Zenit’s place in the next Champions League group stage will go to Celtic as Scottish champions, according to the updated entry list awarded by UEFA.