The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has confirmed it has registered appeals lodged by the Football Union of Russia (FUR) which challenge the suspension of all Russian teams and clubs from competitions run by the international governing body FIFA, and Europe's regional football body UEFA.

The FUR has not stopped there, though.

Included in the appeal against FIFA is a file against the actions of the Polish Football Association, the Swedish Football Association, the Czech Football Association, the Football Association of Montenegro, and the Malta Football Association— the first nations that publicly refused to play Russian national or club teams in various competitions.

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Likewise, the UEFA appeal includes files against the Hellenic Football Federation, the Belarus Football Federation, the Danish Football Association, the Luxembourgish Football Association, the Austrian Football Association, the Portuguese Football Federation, the English Football Federation, the Spanish Football Federation, the Irish Football Association and the French Football Association, which followed suit.

Now, Russian football authorities want their teams reinstated in all competitions including the qualifications for this year's FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Each of the parties named has the opportunity to respond under the CAS arbitration code with the court to announce further details on the two separate arbitration procedures in the coming days.

There have been indications from other sporting bodies inside Russia that they may follow a similar path to the national football union.

Russia's most popular winter sport is biathlon, having earned the country many of its winter Olympic medals and world championship titles.

On March 2, the International Biathlon Union (IBU) issued a press release joining many other sports in not only banning national flags, anthems, uniforms, and any kind of Russian representation, but also in banning the independent participation of any athlete or official from Russia and Belarus.

The IBU said it had done so "to stand in solidarity with Ukraine", expressing its deepest condolences on the loss of Ukrainian biathlete Yehven Malyshev who died serving in the Ukrainian military.

Prior to the statement, the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) had already withdrawn all of its athletes "in order not to expose the Russian athletes to the risk of humiliation and to eliminate the threat to their safety" in ongoing World Cup events.

They are just one of several Russian sports bodies that have claimed banning the nation in any sense is "unlawful, unreasonable and categorically unacceptable".

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The statement goes further:

"The Russian Biathlon Union did not violate any provisions of the Constitution or other IBU rules so that Russia athletes were deprived of the right to compete with the national flag and anthem.

"The IBU's decision directly violates the founding principles of Olympism and the Olympic Charter.

"This is direct discrimination against our country and Russian athletes, incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.

"We are outraged by these illegal actions of the IBU and will defend in court the rights of our athletes and the rights of the RBU as a member of the IBU."

The absence of athletes from Russia is evident at the current Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. 

Ukraine opened the first day of competition on top of the medal tally, and currently sit in second place behind host nation China.

The last three Winter Paralympic Games medal tallies show athletes from Russia finished second in Pyeongchang 2018, first in Sochi 2014 (where state sanctioned doping was later revealed), and second in Vancouver 2010. At these same Games, Ukraine finished sixth, fourth, and fifth.

Russia has become sport's pariah state; a popular position with governments and sporting bodies around the world. Whether it is a position that can be justified in the Court of Arbitration for Sport remains to be seen.