Chelsea transfer ban Q&A: Sportsmail answers key questions
Chelsea have been handed a two-window transfer ban and fined £460,000 by FIFA for breaching the rules around the transfer of minors.This is the outcome of a lengthy investigation by world football’s governing body, with the FA also been found to have broken rules and fined £390,000.Will Chelsea appeal? How did it get to this? What happens next? Here, Sportsmail answers your questions on the stunning announcement. Why have FIFA handed them this ban?Chelsea have been found to have breached article 19 of FIFA’s regulations with regards to the transfer of 29 minor players and article 18 regarding two further minors.As a result, they will now not be allowed to register new recruits this summer or next January. They will still be allowed to sell and it does not apply to their women’s teams. How did this all start?Remember Bertrand Traore? The signing of the Burkino Faso forward, who now plays for Ligue 1 club Lyon, sparked this investigation into Chelsea’s conduct.Traore officially joined the club in January 2014 but was found to have appeared multiples times for the Blues as a minor despite not being registered by the FA.It was claimed FIFA found evidence that Chelsea had misled them over the dates of his signing. Did Chelsea anticipate this?They were braced for this news. The club spent significantly last summer – £128.6m in total, making them the second-biggest spenders in the Premier League.They also signed Christian Pulisic, the Borussia Dortmund winger who was signed but loaned back to the German club immediately. He will join in the summer.It is believed the contracts in place on their loanees mean they will still be allowed to sign Gonzalo Higuain permanently but not midfielder Mateo Kovacic. BLUES BAN BACKLASH – Chelsea thrown into fresh chaos after they are BANNED from signing players until summer 2020 for breaking rules over underage players – From Batshuayi and Morata to Abraham and Kenedy… these are the FORTY-ONE loanees Chelsea might need to call upon- Traore’s mysterious arrival as a 16-year-old ‘trialist’ led to just 16 games – but his deeper impact is set to last far longer- ‘Hazard will definitely renew now… ‘: Chelsea fans pray star man will stay amid nightmare transfer scenario- From a lifeline for Batshuayi to enforced stay for Hazard, how Chelsea could line up next season amid freeze on signingsCan they appeal?Chelsea have appealed to FIFA. They hope that means they can delay the ban until after this summer, so as to give them time to do business.The club said in a statement: ‘Chelsea FC has today received a decision from the FIFA Disciplinary Committee concerning alleged breaches of the FIFA Regulations that relate to the international transfer of players under the age of 18. ‘The decision imposes a transfer ban of two consecutive registration periods and a fine of 600k Swiss francs. Chelsea FC categorically refutes the findings of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee and will therefore be appealing the decision.’The club