Chelsea are expecting to find out very soon if their appeal against their FIFA-imposed transfer ban has been successful.
The West London club were handed a two-window ban – one of which they have already served – for breaching the rules on signing players from overseas aged under 18, with 150 instances involving 69 academy players being cited in the list of charges found to be against them.
Having failed to overturn the ban, they appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), with their hearing being held in Switzerland on November 20th. Now the judgement from that hearing will shortly be announced with manager Frank Lampard, when questioned as to when, saying “Very soon, I believe. Days I think.”
If the decision goes in Chelsea’s favour, then they will be free to sign players again in January. If not, they must wait another six months, with the ban due to expire in February.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.