Russia will seek tens of millions of dollars in compensation after the Volleyball Men’s World Championship was removed from the country, an official has said.
Alexander Yaremenko, secretary general of the Russian Volleyball Federation, said that a lawsuit was being prepared and would be lodged with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland.
“We’ve have been working on it for the last week, there are some technical issues: to form an application, to pay for the lawyers. The amount of compensation is about $80 million,” Yaremenko confirmed to Match TV.
The 2022 edition of the FIVB tournament was due to be held from August 26 to September 11 across 10 Russian cities.
However, FIVB announced in March that Russia would be stripped of the event due to the military offensive in Ukraine.
A new, “accelerated” bidding process has been opened to find a new host for the event, FIVB later said.
The appeal from the Russian Volleyball Federation follows a similar step from the Russian football authorities, who are seeking compensation from UEFA after it removed the 2022 Champions League final from St. Petersburg.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said in March that the funds saved from the cancelation of international events due to be held in Russia would be redirected into the development of domestic sport for athletes and ordinary citizens.