The Court of Arbitration for Sport have dismissed Barcelona's appeal against the transfer ban handed to them by FIFA for the next two windows, upholding the decision to prohibit the Catalan giants from signing any new player in 2015.
The sanction by football’s governing body was initially issued on 19 August of this year after Barcelona repeatedly breached rules regarding the signing and transfer of minors. After appealing the decision to the CAS, the ban was suspended, which allowed the Blaugrana to make key summer additions to their squad, such as Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic, and Claudio Bravo.
However, CAS’ verdict bears bad news for Luis Enrique’s side. A statement on their website read:
"The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeal filed by FC Barcelona against the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) regarding the decision issued by the FIFA Appeals Committee on 19 August 2014.
"In such decision, the Spanish football club was sanctioned with a transfer ban for two periods, a fine of CHF 450,000 and a reprimand after it was found to have infringed the FIFA regulations with respect to the registration of a number of minor players.
"In appealing to the CAS, FC Barcelona sought to annul the FIFA decision. The parties agreed to an expedited procedure and a hearing was held at the CAS headquarters on 5 December 2014 where the CAS Panel in charge of the matter (Prof. Petros Mavroidis, Greece, (President), Mr Efraim Barak, Israel, and Prof. Ulrich Haas, Germany) heard the parties, their representatives and their witnesses.
"The panel found in particular that FC Barcelona had breached the rules regarding the protection of minors and the registration of minors attending football academies (articles 19 and 19bis of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players). Accordingly, the FIFA decision is confirmed in full and the sanction remains in force.
"In view of the need to issue a decision before the opening of the next transfer window, the Panel has issued its decision without the grounds. The full Arbitral Award, with the reasons for the Panel's decision, will be issued as soon as possible."
The Camp Nou side, however, have announced that they could appeal the CAS’ decision, this time taking their fight to Switzerland's Federal Court.
Official: Barcelona announce in a statement that they could appeal to Switzerland's Federal Court against CAS decision confirming ban
— barcastuff (@barcastuff) December 30, 2014
In response to Tuesday's verdict, the Spanish Primera Division heavyweights stated this on their official website:
"FC Barcelona wishes to state, with all due respect for the sports authorities, that it totally disagrees with the verdict of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced today to confirm the sanction originally imposed by FIFA as a consequence of the alleged breach of regulations on the international transfer of minor footballers."
Barcelona, who blamed their infringement of FIFA rules in most part on "existing conflict between the FIFA regulations and Spanish legislation", concluded: "Therefore, FC Barcelona considers the sanction to be completely disproportionate as it supposes an excessive punishment for the Club, when considering its trajectory and the circumstances of this specific case."
