By Andrew Warshaw
April 3 – Barcelona have confirmed they will appeal against the 14-month transfer ban, covering two transfer windows, slapped on them by FIFA for signing up under-age players. And if it fails, they will take their case even further.
The Catalan giants were deemed to have breached rules relating to the “international transfers of non-Spanish minors” and were given 90 days to “regularise the situation of all minor (under 18) players”.
Following investigations by both the FIFA Transfer Matching System and FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee, Barcelona and the Spanish federation were both found to have violated several provisions. Barcelona were also fined 450,000 Swiss francs for the offenses — which are said to have involved 10 minors – while the Spanish FA, which authorised the registration of the players concerned, was fined 500,000 Swiss francs.
Barcelona, who will still be allowed to sell players, badly need access to the summer window to replace players like Carlos Pujol and goalkeeper Victor Valdes. In a statement, Barca confirmed that they would “present the corresponding appeal to FIFA and if necessary will submit the resulting resolution to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).”
Barca added they would take “appropriate precautionary measures to preserve the rights of the club.”
FIFA rules prohibit the international transfers of under-18 players unless they meet one of three separate criteria: if the player’s parents move to a country for non-footballing reasons; if the player is from another nation within the European Union provided he is aged between 16 and 18; or if he lives within 100km.
FIFA’s move is a strong warning other clubs trying to beat the system. In issuing the sanctions on Wednesday, FIFA said: “The disciplinary committee emphasised that the protection of minors in the context of international transfers is an important social and legal issue that concerns all stakeholders in football.
“The committee highlighted that while international transfers might, in specific cases, be favourable to a young player’s sporting career, they are very likely to be contrary to the best interests of the player as a minor.
“Young football players are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse in a foreign country without the proper controls. This particular fact makes the protection of minors in football by the sport’s governing bodies, especially by FIFA, even more important.”
Barcelona argue that their famed academy, ‘La Masia’, has been held up as a model of good practice and insist they have not breached any civil law.
“FCB creates people before they create athletes, a fact that has not been considered by FIFA, which has applied a penalty ignoring the educational function of our training programme,” the club said.
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