Chelsea’s formal appeal against FIFA’s transfer ban has been received and acknowledged by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but there has been no bid yet to have the punishment suspended until the legal process is complete.
The London club is fighting a punishment imposed by world football’s governing body after being found guilty of offences in signing overseas players under the age of 16.
FIFA fined Chelsea £475,000 in February and issued a ban on registering any new players for the next two transfer windows.
Appeals to FIFA were rejected in April. In a statement last month, Chelsea said they were ‘very disappointed’ after the ban was upheld and insisted the club ‘categorically refute the findings of the FIFA Appeal Committee’.
FIFA also dismissed Chelsea’s request to suspend any punishment until the legal challenge had reached its end.
Chelsea have taken their appeal to CAS but, at the time of writing, had not lodged a request for the ban to be suspended until the appeal process is complete.
Therefore, the FIFA decision on this stays in force for now.
There was a theory gathering favour at Stamford Bridge that it might be better to accept the ban and let Maurizio Sarri continue with his project for another season.
Sarri, however, is expected to leave for Juventus as soon as a compensation package can be agreed and Chelsea are closer to finding a successor.
Few established managers, however, will relish the idea of joining such a demanding club when it faces the prospect of 12 months without new signings.
Eden Hazard is about to leave with a transfer to Real Madrid agreed for a fee of £88.5million plus add-ons which could take the fee up to £130m.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi, two of the club’s most promising young players, are out with long-term injuries.
Chelsea have no shortage of players to choose from because they have so many out on loan.
Nor does the ban stop them from signing Mateo Kovacic who was registered to the club last season, on loan from Real Madrid.
