Fifa block Cousin move

Striker must stay at Rangers after Fulham move thwarted

Last updated: 29th February 2008

Fifa block Cousin move

Cousin: To fight for place

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Daniel Cousin will see out the season at Rangers after Fifa blocked the striker's proposed move to Fulham.

Rangers accepted a £3million bid from the Premier League strugglers during January's transfer window and Cousin agreed to the switch.

But, after playing for Lens prior to joining Rangers last August, Cousin required special dispensation from Fifa to change clubs again.

Fifa have spent the past month deliberating the issue and have confirmed the 31-year-old must stay at Ibrox until the summer.

Gers chief executive Martin Bain revealed the club's frustration at the delay in Fifa reaching a decision and is disappointed with the final verdict.

Fully committed

Bain told the club's official website: "It has been a frustrating time for all the parties concerned and we are disappointed that it has taken Fifa so long to make a decision.

"We received a good offer from Fulham for the player and entered into the proposed transfer fully aware he had already made two appearances for Lens before joining Rangers - one start in the Intertoto Cup in July and a late substitute appearance against Bordeaux in the French league.

"Both clubs' legal advisors agreed that there was solid ground for an appeal to Fifa and are disappointed with the decision which prevents Daniel from completing the move.

"As a result, Daniel remains a Rangers player, fully committed to helping the club push for domestic and European success this season."

Enjoyed time

Cousin concedes the chance to move to Fulham was 'difficult to turn down', but insists he is happy to play for Walter Smith's side for the remainder of the campaign.

"Obviously when I heard I had the opportunity to move to the Premiership and the offer was right both for myself and Rangers, it was difficult to turn down," said Cousin.

"However, I made it clear all along that I have enjoyed my time at Rangers and I am more than happy to stay, fight for my place and help the manager and the rest of the squad compete for silverware this season."

Comments (5)

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Davie Niven (Rangers fan) says...

As a rangers fan I can't believe a club the size of ours didn't do their homework before even letting this transfer go ahead. It has been a bit of a joke from the start. Cousin has made his intentions clear that he is only using gers as a stepping stone to the premiership. Fifa should have let this move go ahead purely because I don't want any player to be at my club that doesn't want to be there!

Posted 21:47 29th February 2008

Dave Fullick (Fulham fan) says...

I am a very dissapointed and upset Fulham fan. Once again one of the smaller clubs doesn't get the run of the green. I am not saying signing Daniel Cousin would keep us up in the Premier League, but it would have really helped out. I wonder what would have happened if it had been Arsenal, Man Utd or Chelsea wanting the player. And if Fifa acted quicker maybe we could have targeted someone else to come in before the window shut.

Posted 19:05 29th February 2008

Russell Telfer says...

First of all I'm not a Rangers or Fulham fan but this decision seems bizarre. Whats the difference between this case and all the others that HAVE recieved this special dispensation some of whom have played for more time than Cousin did for Lens? It's crazy that Cousin should be penalised in such a way for playing just 20 minutes for Lens. It might be understandable if he'd played 5 or 6 games but 20 minutes?? Are FIFA having a laugh? All they're doing is serving to make themselves look more and more incompetent by applying one rule for one case and a different one for others.

Posted 18:51 29th February 2008

Bobby Neil says...

The time it has taken FIFA to deal with this matter has not been good for the player or the clubs concerned. Surely this cannot be allowed to happen in future and a procedure should be put in place to deal with such matters immediately. I hope the Rangers support will now get behind Cousin if selected by Walter Smith as there is no doubting his goal scoring ability and the benefit to the team.

Posted 18:40 29th February 2008

Craig Macgillivray (Rangers fan) says...

As a Rangers fan, I'm very happy to see Cousin stay where he is for now. He gives us something much-needed up front where we are light in terms of numbers anyway. I think if he had gone we may have regretted it should another striker have picked up a knock. The money obviously would have been no use to us at this stage anyway as the transfer window is now closed and so we could not have invested in another player (who would have needed time to settle in anyway.) As an aside, it's a bit of a disgrace that FIFA have taken so long to make such a straight-forward decision, with a lot of postponements, leaving all parties in limbo.

Posted 18:32 29th February 2008
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