Chelsea refutes FIFA findings, set to appeal transfer ban
Football
By
Robert Abong'o
| Feb 22, 2019
Chelsea football club has confirmed it will appeal the decision made by football’s governing body FIFA to ban them from signing players for the next two transfer windows.
On Friday, February 22, FIFA imposed a ban on the London –based club over the alleged purchase of 25 foreign players under the age of 18.
FIFA had started looking into the matter in September last year and found out Bertrand Traore had played for Chelsea in a non-competitive match against Arsenal at the age of 16 in the year 2011 – but was signed to the club three years later.
This was done by a FIFA compliance unit Transfer Matching System (TMS) – which found out one Bertrand Traore had played for Chelsea in a non-competitive match against Arsenal at the age of 16 in the year 2011 – but was signed to the club three years later.
Chelsea, through their official website, gave the following statement:
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“Chelsea FC has today received a decision from the FIFA Disciplinary Committee concerning alleged breaches of the FIFA Regulations that relate to the international transfer of players under the age of 18. The decision imposes a transfer ban of two consecutive registration periods and a fine of 600k Swiss francs. Chelsea FC categorically refutes the findings of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee and will, therefore, be appealing the decision”
“The club wishes to emphasise that it respects the important work undertaken by FIFA in relation to the protection of minors and has fully cooperated with FIFA throughout its investigation. Initially, Chelsea FC was charged under Articles 19.1 and 19.3 in relation to 92 players. We welcome the fact that FIFA has accepted that there was no breach in relation to 63 of these players, but the club is extremely disappointed that FIFA has not accepted the club’s submissions in relation to the remaining 29 players. Chelsea FC acted in accordance with the relevant regulations and will shortly be submitting its appeal to FIFA.”