The Czech Government has banned Russian athletes and teams from competing in the country ©Getty Images

The Czech Government has banned Russian athletes and teams from competing in the country in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

The ruling has been implemented following a suggestion from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and also sees a ban on Czech athletes and teams from competing in Russia.

This proposal was initiated by sports associations and supported by the leadership of the National Sports Agency of the Czech Republic.

The statements made no mention of athletes and teams from Belarus.

Czech football club Slovácko employ Russian midfielder Vladislav Levin, but sports lawyer Anna Antseliovich insists the law can only go so far.

"Can Russian athletes be forced to leave the Czech Republic?" the former Russian Anti-Doping Agency acting director general said, as reported by Russia's official state news agency TASS.

"The ban on participation in competitions is not a ban on living in the Czech Republic.

"That is, they cannot extradite him on a sporting basis, this is only in criminal law.

Athletes from the Czech Republic will also not be allowed to compete in Russia following the new bill ©Getty Images
Athletes from the Czech Republic will also not be allowed to compete in Russia following the new bill ©Getty Images

"They can prohibit sports clubs or other organisations from signing contracts with Russian players.

"But you can't take them out of the country." 

Antseliovich claims that Czech clubs will face potential legal battles with FIFA if they cannot afford to pay the athlete compensation after terminating their contract.

"Clubs from the Czech Republic can try to terminate the contract with a Russian player if they are really forbidden and they consider that this applies to team sports, but then they will have a rather long dispute in FIFA, because the termination is not at the initiative of the player, but the club," Antseliovich said.

"And the FIFA regulations enshrine the stability of football contracts, if someone signed, he is obliged to comply, that is, here we can talk about a large compensation for the player.

"It turns out that clubs can terminate the contract, but then the player can apply to FIFA with a demand for compensation, because the club did not have the right to terminate the contract, and he terminated the contract unilaterally, this is prohibited by the FIFA regulations, so the player will be able to demand compensation."