PARIS, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The FIFA Appeal Committee Wednesday decided to partially uphold Chelsea's appeal against an earlier transfer sanction, preventing Chelsea from signing any new player for the next two transfer windows with the exception of under-16 players.
After being notified of FIFA's decision, the Premier League club decided to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Having been found guilty of 29 cases of breaching FIFA's rules related to signing players under 18, Chelsea had been banned from making any signing for the next two transfer periods by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee in February, and fined 600,000 Swiss francs (around 590,000 U.S. dollars).
Then Chelsea filed an appeal against the decision to the FIFA's Appeal Committee.
"The FIFA Appeal Committee has decided to partially uphold the appeal lodged by Chelsea FC against the decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee to sanction the club with a ban on registering new players at both national and international level for the next two complete and consecutive registration periods. This ban applied to the club as a whole - with the exception of the women's and futsal teams - and did not prevent the release of players," FIFA said in a statement.
FIFA added that "the ban shall not cover the registration of minor players under the age of 16 who do not fall under the scope of art. 19 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, which refers to international transfers and first registrations of foreign minor players."
The world's football governing body also confirmed the fine of 600,000 Swiss francs imposed on the club.
"The club is very disappointed that the transfer ban of two consecutive registration periods was not overturned," Chelsea responded.
"Chelsea FC categorically refutes the findings of the FIFA Appeal Committee. It acted in accordance with the relevant regulations and will appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)," the statement added.
