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Europe’s
top clubs breathed a collective sigh of relief when FIFA suspended the
transfer ban they had imposed on Barcelona, leaving them free to sign
players this summer.
The Catalan club had been given the punishment for two windows for breaching rules on signing minors from overseas. They were sanctioned by
FIFA's disciplinary committee on April 2 for breaking the rules in the
case of 10 Under 18 players and were also fined 450,000 Swiss francs (£305,000).
Barcelona
lodged a formal appeal last Friday and had urged the game’s governing
body to reply as quickly as possible leaving them time to make a second
appeal to the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS).
The
decision means Barca can embark on a £100million overhaul of their
squad which could see them take David Luiz from Chelsea and allow Alexis
Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas to move to the Premier League.
A
FIFA statement read: 'The chairman of the FIFA appeal committee
considered that the appeal lodged by the club is to be granted
suspensive effect.
'The
chairman of the FIFA appeal committee, Larry Mussenden, took into
consideration the sanctions imposed against the club, the complexity of
the matter, the start date of the next registration period - 1 July 2014
- and the fact that the FIFA appeal committee does not seem in a
position to take a decision on the main issue early enough so that an
eventual appeal of the club against its decision before the Court of
Arbitration for Sport would still be decided before the beginning of the registration period.
'Consequently, the chairman considered that the appeal lodged by the club is to be 'Consequently, the chairman considered that the appeal lodged by the club is to be granted suspensive effect.'
Some
in European football will see this as a display of weakness from FIFA
but others will be delighted that a potential spoke in the wheel of the
summer transfer market has been removed.
Barcelona
will now be able to register new players from July 1 and goalkeeper
Marc-Andre ter Stegen will be the first. They will then embark on a
major overhaul of their side with two defenders and a midfielder the
priority.
Luiz
features on the shortlist for central defenders with Athletic Bilbao’s
Aymeric Laporte also high on the list. His current manager Ernesto
Valverde is favourite to become Barcelona’s new coach.
Reasons to be cheerful: Barcelona are free to boost their squad before the star of the 2014-15 season
Signings
elsewhere in the team will depend on the players leaving with Carles
Puyol having confirmed his departure at the end of the season, Xavi
Hernandez considering a move to the US this summer, and Dani Alves,
Fabregas and Sanchez all understood to be available at the right price.
The
sanctions imposed on Barcelona highlighted the practices of clubs
scouring the world for young talent and taking children from their home
countries in defiance of FIFA's rules.
Barcelona
currently have a trio of youth players from South Korea, including much
sought-after 15-year-old striker Lee Seung Woo, plus other players from
Africa.
Options: Alexis Sanchez could be set for a move away from Barcelona when they bring in new players
FIFA
only allows international youth transfers when one of three situations
apply: the player's parents have moved country for their own,
non-related reasons; the move takes place within the European Union if a
player is aged between 16 and 18; or the player's home is less than 50
kilometres from the national border being crossed.
The
sanctions were imposed following investigations conducted by FIFA's
transfer matching system officials into Under 18 players who were
registered and participated in competitions with the club between 2009
and 2013.
Chelsea successfully appealed against a two-year ban for a similar infringement after signing Gael Kakuta from Lens.
Going the other way? Ex-Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas has been linked with a move away from the Nou Camp
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