FIFA Bans Chelsea For Two Transfer Windows For Breaching Rules

Chelsea has been banned from the transfer market for two windows after Fifa found them guilty of a serious and systemic breach of the rules regarding their dealings with foreign players under the age of 18.

The club swiftly said they would appeal.

Naija News understands that the governing body announced the sanction on Friday at the end of a lengthy investigation into the club and how they have registered players at their academy over a number of years.

The Premier League club has also been fined more than £460,000, while the FA face a £390,000 sanction.

Harsh of Fifa to ban Chelsea just because they spent 34 million actual pounds on Danny Drinkwater

— Matthew Stanger (@MatthewStanger) February 22, 2019

Chelsea can contest the decision in front of the FIFA Appeal Committee.

The club was found guilty of 29 incidences of breaching article 19, which relates to the transfer of players aged under 18. FIFA has given the club 90 days to rectify the situation concerning the players signed.

The punishments are a result of a three-year FIFA investigation related to the signing of more than a dozen players by Chelsea.

One of the main contentious signings was that of Bertrand Traore in 2013. Chelsea also twice breached regulations relating to third-party influence, article 18bis, FIFA said.

Chelsea will be able to sell players, but not register any new signings.“This ban applies to the club as a whole – with the exception of the women’s and futsal teams – and does not prevent the release of players,” FIFA said in a statement.

https://twitter.com/E147180/status/1098883619748302848

Chelsea was given a transfer ban in 2009 after there was a complaint about the youth player Gael Kakuta joining illegally two years earlier. Chelsea appealed that and had the ban reduced.

The transfer ban is a body blow for Chelsea at a time when the manager, Maurizio Sarri, is clinging to his job, after a dismal sequence of results and having lost the confidence of the Stamford Bridge crowd, and the squad is in need of a make-over with doubts concerning the future of a host of players.