Chelsea have lost their appeal against FIFA’s decision to ban them from signing players in the next two transfer windows.
The Blues will now only be allowed to sign players under the age of 16, but if they wish, they could go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a final bid to try and freeze or overturn the ban.
Fifa had initially turned down a request from Chelsea to freeze the ban while they considered the club’s appeal, but Fifa, as expected, as have now upheld the ban that prevents Chelsea from signing players in the upcoming summer and January transfer windows.
A statement from FIFA, who also hit Chelsea with a £460,000 fine, said: “The FIFA Appeal Committee has decided to partially uphold the appeal lodged by Chelsea FC against the decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee to sanction the club with a ban on registering new players at both national and international level for the next two complete and consecutive registration periods.
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“This ban applied to the club as a whole – with the exception of the women’s and futsal teams – and did not prevent the release of players.
With respect to all men’s teams, the ban on registering new players, both nationally and internationally for two registration periods, has been confirmed by the FIFA Appeal Committee, with the following exception: The FIFA Appeal Committee believes that Chelsea’s wrongdoing consisted in not respecting the prohibition from internationally transferring or registering for the first time foreign minor players. In the committee´s opinion, imposing a ban on registering each and every minor would not be proportionate to the offence committed.
“Consequently, the FIFA Appeal Committee decided that, as far as youth categories are concerned, the ban shall not cover the registration of minor players under the age of 16 who do not fall under the scope of art. 19 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, which refers to international transfers and first registrations of foreign minor players.
Additionally, the FIFA Appeal Committee confirmed the fine of CHF 600,000. The decision issued by the FIFA Appeal Committee was notified today.”
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