Rangers last night carried out their refusal to play the UEFA Cup tie against Anzhi Makhachkala in trouble-torn Dagestan, taking their case to a European Court of Arbitration.

The Ibrox club exhausted all avenues of protest to the tournament organisers and immediately switched their focus to Lausanne as they issued a statement saying: 'Taking full consideration of all the advice available, a team cannot at this time be sent to Makhachkala for safety reasons.

'We have advised UEFA that although our travel plans have been cancelled we could still be in a position to travel, to participate in the match assuming a safe venue can be confirmed."

The Rangers chairman David Murray added: 'We have no alternative but to pursue our appeals by referring this issue to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

This court's affairs are conducted behind closed doors and in confidence and no further information on the details of our submission to the court will be published prior to the outcome of their deliberations."