The CAS overturned the decision of FIFA and had the two-window ban decreased to one, allowing Chelsea to do fresh signings in winter transfer window.
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO / AFP)
Chelsea will be able to sign new players in the upcoming winter transfer window after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) halved the club’s ban.
In February, FIFA had initially sanctioned Chelsea with a ban which stopped them from making any fresh signings in at least two transfer window.
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The CAS overturned the decision of FIFA and had the two-window ban decreased to one, allowing Chelsea to do fresh signings in the approaching winter window. However, the club will need to pay a fine of 300,000 Swiss Francs to FIFA.
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“The following sanctions have now been imposed by the CAS: Chelsea is banned from registering any new players, either nationally or internationally for one entire registration period, which the club already served during the 2019 summer registration period,” the CAS statement read.
Earlier, Chelsea were found guilty of breaching article 19 of FIFA’s Regulation on the Status and Transfer of Players (RASP), concerning the protection of players under the age of 18. The international governing body had also found Chelsea of beaching article 18, which is related to third-party influence.
The CAS in its statement said that Chelsea did “violate” the rules on minors, but not as significantly as found by FIFA. The statement said that the club had committed only one-third of the violations found by FIFA.
Later in their investigation, FIFA had released documents showing that the Stamford Bridge club had committed 150 breaches which its disciplinary committee had termed “inexcusable”.
“In addition, the violations of other rules were found to be less serious than those attributed to Chelsea FC by Fifa. Accordingly, the sole arbitrator reduced the sanction to one single transfer ban (which Chelsea FC already served during the 2019 summer registration period), and halved the monetary sanction,” the CAS statement read.
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