Fifa said Friday it was banning Premier League club Chelsea from signing new players in the next two transfer windows as punishment for breaking rules on registering under-age players.
It means Chelsea will be unable to make signings until the end of January next year.
“Chelsea was found to have breached art. 19 of the Regulations in the case of twenty-nine (29) minor players and to have committed several other infringements relating to registration requirements for players. The club also breached art. 18bis of the Regulations in connection with two agreements it concluded concerning minors and which allowed it to influence other clubs in transfer-related matters,” Fifa said in a statement.
The Disciplinary Committee sanctioned Chelsea with a ban on registering new players at both national and international level for the next two (2) complete and consecutive registration periods. 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,” the statement went on to add.
In addition, Chelsea were fined 600,000 Swiss francs ($600,000, €530,000) and given a period of 90 days to regularise the situation of the minor players concerned.
The English Football Association was also fined 510,000 Swiss francs ($530,000, €467,000) for breaching the rules for the signing and registration of players under 18, termed by Fifa as ‘minors’. The FA were given a time period of eight months to “address the situation concerning the international transfer and first registration of minors in football.”
