Chelsea handed transfer ban

Fifa act over Gael Kakuta transfer

By Graeme Bailey   Last updated: 4th September 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Chelsea handed transfer ban

Chelsea: Transfer ban over Kakuta deal

This decision confirms our aim to ensure contractual stability. It is an important ruling for football in general.

Fifa spokesperson.
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Fifa have banned Chelsea from registering any new players in the next two transfer windows.

The world's governing body have handed down the punishment after French clubs Lens made an official complaint over Chelsea's signing of their young player Gael Kakuta in 2007.

Fifa's Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) has now found in Lens' favour and ruled that the Blues are 'jointly and severally liable'.

As such, the Stamford Bridge club have been banned from signing players over the next two transfer windows, which means they will not be able to bring in any new faces until 2011.

18-year-old Kakuta, a regular in Chelsea's reserve side, has also been banned from playing for the next four months and fined £680,000.

Chelsea are also liable over Kakuta's fine, and they also will have to pay Lens £113,000 in compensation.

A Fifa spokesperson stated: "This decision confirms our aim to ensure contractual stability. It is an important ruling for football in general."

Statement

The full statement from Fifa reads: "On the occasion of its last meeting held on 27 August 2009, the Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) was called to pass a decision in a contractual dispute opposing the French club Lens to the French player Gael Kakuta and the English club Chelsea.

"The French club had lodged a claim with Fifa seeking compensation for breach of contract from the player and requesting also sporting sanctions to be imposed on the player and the English club for breach of contract and inducement to breach of contract respectively.

"The DRC found that the player had indeed breached a contract signed with the French club. Equally, the DRC deemed it to be established that the English club induced the player to such a breach.

"As a result the player was condemned to pay compensation in the amount of €780,000, for which the club, Chelsea, are jointly and severally liable, and sporting sanctions were imposed on both the player and Chelsea in accordance with art. 17 par. 3 and 4 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.

"A restriction of four months on his eligibility to play in official matches has been imposed on Kakuta. Chelsea are banned from registering any new players, either nationally or internationally, for the two next entire and consecutive registration periods following the notification of the present decision. Furthermore, the club, Chelsea, have to pay Lens training compensation in the amount of €130,000."

Appeal

Chelsea, who have yet to comment on the sanction from Fifa, do have the right to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The Blues are not the first club to have been punished in such a way.

Roma were also given a ban for two transfer windows following defender Philippe Mexes' move from Auxerre in 2004.

Roma appealed to the CAS and had the ban cut to one transfer window. If the same situation was repeated it would mean Chelsea being unable to sign players until next summer.

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Comments (83)

Dan Waite says...

I notice a lot of people saying that FIFA and UEFA are making an example of English clubs, have any of these people even read the article? Roma, an ITALIAN side, were the first to be punished for such an offence in 2004. Please read the facts before making ridiculous accusations people. Anyway, in my personal opinion, FIFA were right to punish Chelsea. Any club that uses money and power in this way should be. It's things like this which are ruining the game.

Posted 15:42 4th September 2009

Sean Page (Manchester United fan) says...

Who actually cares about this, Chelsea will appeal and the gutless idiots that run football will reduce the ban to one window so Chelsea wont be able to sign anyone in the January transfer window which they probably had no intention of doing anyway so the punishment wont effect chelsea in the slightest

Posted 14:32 4th September 2009

Roby El zein (Manchester United fan) says...

I think this is a disgrace FIFA powered by Sepp Blatter and Uefa by Michel Platini... it seems they have a plan to stop the english clubs from succeeding, remember the talks of UEFA planning "Luxury tax" on big spenders!! this is just the beginning and chelsea are not the only target believe me... if they loose the appeal the fans shouldnt be quite they should protest... They want to ruin the premier league!! investors are making the game more competitive and interesting... u look at the teams this season and one has no idea who is going to win so PROTEST...

Posted 14:31 4th September 2009

Waqas Ahmed (Liverpool fan) says...

This is a great news.Now they will not sell young British players........................

Posted 13:36 4th September 2009

Graeme Page says...

They (Chelsea) did the same tapping up Ashley Cole and only got a fine which was nothing to Abramovich, so as they've done it again the punishment should rightly be stepped up to a ban and if they do it again ban them from the Champions League and keep on until they stop trying to just buy and bribe their way to everything. Serves them right, if they want good young players, like we all do, go about it properly and above board.

Posted 13:30 4th September 2009

Edmond Visha (Aston Villa fan) says...

very harsh on CHELSEA,but before everyone starts saying that there's a conspiracy against english clubs,let me tell you that this ruling isn't unprecedented! AS ROMA had the same ban impossed on them,after they signed MEXES from AUXERRE.they were found guilty of missbehaving and they were rightly punished,just like Chelsea are now. basically what FIFA are doing,they are trying to protect the small clubs,and there's plenty of those in ENGLAND too,so there's no conspiracy there. i for one say:WELL DONE FIFA,it's good for our beloved sport

Posted 13:03 4th September 2009

Imraan Sathria (Manchester United fan) says...

Chelsea deserve this punishment. No team should be above the law even if you have all the money in the world. Is this not the same thing that Chelsea did with John Obi Mikel? He signed for United and they made him say that he was forced to sign for us.

Posted 08:29 4th September 2009

Dan Garratt (Wolverhampton Wanderers fan) says...

Following Arjen Robben's comments, chelsea struggle? NO! I think this is a blessing in disguise, now they know no changes can be made to the squad, Ancellotti can concentrate on his current crop and build a system thats going to win silverware. Only problem with that is Abramovich is going to be thinking, "Why has it cost this much so far"

Posted 07:54 4th September 2009

Burton Brown (Manchester United fan) says...

The clauses in under age players should be controlled by FIFA period.If a player want's to join a proffessional club all contracts must be handled by FIFA,it will solve the problem,so clubs can't be held liable if the player want's out.He must sign a 3year deal that's it,after that FIFA realeses him to any club for a minimum/maximum they deem fit in the best interest off the player.

Posted 07:53 4th September 2009

Nick Ayers (Chelsea fan) says...

As a Chelsea fan I am shocked but also not surprised to see Uefa and now Fifa pick on another English team. I think another can of worms has opened up here as if any fan of another club who is reading this news with glee and believe that the way that Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal, Real madrid, Barca, Milan etc etc etc the way young talent is recruited leaves them beyond reproach are living in a dream world. There are hundreds of cases where a 16 & 17 year old has moved from one club to a different larger club. The punishment dished out here is out of all proportion and I look forward to Chelsea using all legal means available to take on this decision. To prevent transfers for top players because of an alledged breach on a young unproven player is not a fair punishment. On another note, seems that we should have done a bit more business in the window just closed, wonder what Kenyon thinks now! timing on this one is also interesting as they wait until the window closes and then annouce this which seems to be another deliberate attempt to punish English clubs. Crazy world, but at least the lawyers will be happy!!!!!

Posted 07:28 4th September 2009

Roger Essex (Chelsea fan) says...

Fifa want TO DISCREDIT Premier Leaque, it is the best Leaque in the World. The Top Four have Dominated Europe, and Fifa want to distroy our success. I hope the Premier all get togeather to help Chelsea fight it. We have to stick togeather.

Posted 07:13 4th September 2009

Carlos De almeida (Manchester United fan) says...

All the Arsenal fans on here who are accusing Chelsea and Man Utd (and i'm not saying Man U are innocent) and whoever else should look at themselves because as far as i am concerned they are the front runners/leaders in poaching and stealing young talent and then claiming that whinging Wenger discovered and made the player what he is......Blaa Blaaa Blaaa. Give me a break. Arsenal should be next in the firing line. Good luck Chelsea!! Man Utd forever.

Posted 06:56 4th September 2009

Jasper Meijer (Arsenal fan) says...

Trying to give an objective comment as an outsider because some of the reactions here are incredible. Why do all you people keep on saying that they want to pick on English football and that they are setting an example of Chelsea? First of all, as mentioned by others before, Sion from Switserland did get exactly the same punishment for the same crime so the punishment isn't even harsh. The fact that English clubs are always linked with these kinds of practices is very understandable because the English clubs pursue a lot of youngsters to join them from foreign clubs (all the English clubs). And Chelsea isn't even used to set an example. As stated before, the example was Sion, but next to that, other clubs are punished hard by the Fifa/Uefa as well. Remember two years ago, Feyenoord got banned from European football because of some riots in Nancy? Well, if that exact punishment would be used against English teams as well, you would only have Championship teams playing in the CL, so please stop acting like everybody is against you!

Posted 06:54 4th September 2009

Debbie Donovan (Chelsea fan) says...

I am a chelsea fan and think this is a bit harsh but on saying that it is the only way to punish clubs that are lucky enough to have money but I am wondering will it be only the british clubs that will get this punishment I cant see spain etc getting the same

Posted 19:13 3rd September 2009

Andy Donnelly (Chelsea fan) says...

I am a Chelsea fan and suspected something like this could happen sooner or later but the severity of it is a joke. I am not condoning this but if Chelsea are given this ban almost every major football club should be sanctioned as well. The Spurs and Arsenal fans make me laugh. Like they have never done the same. Spurs even do this with managers, Juande Ramos from Sevilla ring any bells?!! Also, Arsenal may not spend big money but how do you think they have such a talented youth team? The majority of them are bought from clubs at a young age in similar "illegal" circumstances. Fabregas a prime example.

Posted 17:42 3rd September 2009

Jay Brown (West Ham United fan) says...

I'm glad beyond belief. It's about time the big clubs got what they deserve. They cannot continue with the mindset that they can do what they want. Man Utd used to think they could bully the refs and they were told, Arsenal think they can break the rules and cheat and they were hit hard and now Chelsea who think they are the worlds greatest team despite having no history and have to buy all their honors have now been shown the rule book and hit with exactly what they deserve. Chelsea have broken the rules and been caught out so they deserve to be punished. Maybe now they will realize they are not bigger than the governing bodies. On the subject of Arsenal a dive is a dive and should be punished plain and simple.

Posted 17:13 3rd September 2009

Ben Howen (Liverpool fan) says...

The ruling within which this charge was delivered under the "Regulations of the status and transfer of players" is plain and clear for all to see. The article which has seen this charge is as follows, "article 17 paragraphs 1 and 2: the principle that in the event of termination of contract without just cause, compensation shall be payable and that such compensation may be stipulated in the contract;" If Chelsea have broke transfer rulings then they should be punished accordingly, but the point here is the same as a lot of you are saying. Chelsea are a big spending English club with foreign ownership who manage to lure players from all around the world at a young age. These are all of the things that Platini has stated he wants to clamp down on, so to me this is nothing more than making an example of a club of their wish. I find it very hard to believe that Real Madrid have never bent these rulings, so where is their punishment. I hope Chelsea appeal this decision on the grounds of prejudice towards English clubs as this is all becoming farcical.

Posted 16:24 3rd September 2009

Stuart Sim (Manchester United fan) says...

People are forgetting that Chelsea have been warned several times in the past about their conduct regarding transfers so this punishment is not a surprise. All clubs "tap" players up, but none so blatantly as Chelsea in this case. People can point to Manchester United's signings of Davide Petrucci and Federico Macheda, but they were done by the book - there is a legal loophole which allows foreign clubs to sign players aged 16 from foreign based clubs. In this case, Chelsea conspired to get Kakuta to break his contract and there lies the difference. Harsh punishment, but they've had it coming.

Posted 16:23 3rd September 2009

Austin Space (Liverpool fan) says...

Come on folks - wake up and smell the coffee!! EUFA, FIFA, Platini, Blatter, all of them are never going to be content until English clubs are less successful than other European clubs. Spain are their "darlings" at present, but they will drop out of favour if Barcelona and Real become too successful, then it will be the turn of Germany or Italy again. It's a very perverse sense of fairness and justice that exists in the halls of power within world football. Best thing our clubs can keep doing is dominating the Champion's League ...!!!

Posted 16:21 3rd September 2009

Dan Elliott (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

Chelsea have been on top of UEFA'S and FIFA'S hit list for years. Since the money started to get spend at Chelsea, comments about Andreas Frisk by Mourhino, and the behaviour of Drogba and Ballack last season.... Chelsea have been a target of both UEFA and FIFA. They can never prove it but the all above reasons are why Chelsea are being punished by UEFA and FIFA. Chelsea's PR for years has been poor and now I think they have suffered because many bad PR incidents by their clubs staff, managers and players.

Posted 16:17 3rd September 2009

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