Rubin Kazan handed one-year ban from UEFA competition

ZURICH, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Rubin Kazan have been banned from European competition for one season for breaching restrictions placed on the Russian club under Financial Fair Play (FFP) break-even rules, UEFA said on Thursday.

Europe's soccer governing body said in a statement the ban would come into effect if Rubin Kazan qualified for European competition in the next two seasons.

"The club is excluded from participating in the next UEFA club competition for which it would otherwise qualify in the next two (2) seasons," UEFA said.

UEFA introduced FFP rules to try to prevent rich club owners from buying success by pumping unlimited funds into clubs.

Under the rules, clubs are barred from spending more than their generated revenue.

Clubs who break the rules generally reach so-called settlement agreements with UEFA, where they accept restrictions on transfers and squad size for a given number of seasons.

UEFA said the decision to ban Rubin Kazan was made "due to breach of the Settlement Agreement" but did not give any further details.

The club said it could appeal against the ban.

"This decision can be appealed at the Court of Arbitration for Sport," the club said in a statement. "Rubin is currently assessing the possibility and expediency of such an appeal."