ZURICH — FIFA has received Chelsea’s appeal against a one-year transfer ban, though has not decided on Tuesday whether to freeze the sanction during the legal process and clear the club to sign players in the off-season. In similar cases, FIFA has agreed not to enforce the ban during a club’s appeal process. That policy let Barcelona and Real Madrid sign players ahead of their bans taking effect in recent years. “There is no exact timetable for the hearings and decisions taken by the FIFA appeal committee,” soccer’s governing body said, with the panel’s chairman set to decide on freezing the punishment. Chelsea denies wrongdoing, and said it was cleared by FIFA after scrutiny of 63 more players’ cases.

Source: National Post March 05, 2019 13:52 UTC