Uefa have banned Rubin Kazan from one season of European competition after the Russian club were found to have broken rules that monitor spending on player transfers and wages.
Rubin are now banned from the next Champions League or Europa League it qualifies for on merit in the next two seasons. The club can appeal Uefa’s judgement at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
They are currently fifth in the Russian league, two points behind second place, which grants direct entry into the Champions League group stage.
In May 2014, Rubin agreed to a settlement agreement with Uefa in the first round of Financial Fair Play (FFP) judgments that also included deals with Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.
Uefa then fined Rubin 3 million euros (£2.6m) of competition prize money, with a further €3m due for breaching the settlement. No specifics of their latest breach of the rules have been disclosed by European football’s governing body.
Rubin played in the Champions League group stage in 2009 and 2010 — claiming their most famous victory with a 2-1 triumph against defending champions Barcelona in October 2009 — though they did not advance to the knockout rounds on either occasion.
The club last played in the Europa League in the 2015-16 season, gaining entry only because Dynamo Moscow were excluded by Uefa for FFP breaches. They failed to advance from a group that included eventual runners-up Liverpool.
