Chelsea’s transfer ban has been upheld by Fifa, meaning the club will not be able to sign any new players in the next two transfer windows.
Fifa announced yesterday that, following an appeal, they have decided to go through with the ban... although Chelsea can now go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for one final attempt to overturn the decision. Something they will do. It has also been revealed that Chelsea will be able to sign players under the age of 16 during the ban.
Chelsea had initially expected their ban to be suspended over the summer while they appealed against the sentence, as it was for Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in similar circumstances.
But Fifa have since stunned Chelsea by insisting that the ban would apply immediately – leaving them no scope to replace Eden Hazard, assuming that he leaves for Real Madrid for £100m this summer.
Speaking about the outcome, Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri said: “I am not able to help you, I don’t know the situation. I think there will be a statement from the club in the afternoon.”
And that statement duly arrived as Chelsea confirmed in a statement they would now take their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The club said they were ‘very disappointed’ the ban had not been overturned and ‘categorically’ refuted the findings of FIFA’s appeal committee.
A Chelsea statement read: “The club notes that the Fifa appeal committee has decided to partially uphold the appeal lodged by Chelsea FC against the decision of the Fifa disciplinary committee. However, the club is very disappointed that the transfer ban of two consecutive registration periods was not overturned.”
“Chelsea FC categorically refutes the findings of the Fifa appeal committee. It acted in accordance with the relevant regulations and will appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”
Chelsea were initially slapped with the two-window ban by Fifa in February for breaching rules in relation to signing under-age non EU players. They were also fined £460,000.
The club will also ask CAS for an urgent interim ruling to freeze the ban during the appeal process. That would let Chelsea register any players signed during the off-season transfer window which opens on June 11 in England.
Although Chelsea can currently still sell players, any new signings must not be selected until the 2020-21 season. In a statement, Fifa said it has ‘partially upheld’ the appeal, but only in the sense that Chelsea will now be allowed to sign players aged under 16, providing they come from within the European Economic Area. The ban on signing over-16s remains in place, as does the fine.
Cross-border transfers of players aged under 18 are banned unless there are specific, non-football reasons for the player moving to the relevant country.
Fifa initially investigated more than 100 cases involving Chelsea, going back several years, but only charged the Blues with 92 breaches of article 19 - the rule prohibiting the registration of minors - and other charges related to the club having third-party influence over other club’s players.
