Fifa block Chelsea’s request to freeze transfer ban

Chelsea will not be allowed to register any players until 2020

Chelsea's request to freeze their transfer ban while they appeal against the decision has been blocked by Fifa. It was announced last month that the London club would not be permitted to register any new players until the January window of 2020 after they allegedly broke rules when signing foreign under-18 players. They were also handed a fine of £460,000 by world football's governing body. Fifa investigated 92 cases involving the Premier League club and claims to have found breaches in 29 of them. Chelsea have denied any wrongdoing and responded to the ban by making clear that they intended to challenge the decision. Despite this, Fifa have denied provisional measures which would have seen the ban frozen during the appeal process. As a result, it remains the case that there will be no new players arriving at Stamford Bridge for the next two transfer windows. The ban will not, however, prevent players from leaving Chelsea. Barcelona and Atlético Madrid have been hit with similar transfer bans for breaching the same rules in recent years. Both clubs were able to sign players during that time period but not register them in their squad. This meant that when Atlético Madrid signed Vitolo from Sevilla, he had to be loaned out to Sevilla for the first six months of the season before he could play for Atléti. It also meant that Antoine Griezmann decided to stay at the club out of a sense of duty, scuppering what had seemed like a certain move to Manchester United. When Barcelona were banned from registering players, they did still sign Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal, both of whom have since left the club after failing to make any sort of impact. The pair also had to spend the first six months of their first season at the Nou Camp on the sidelines, as they were only allowed to take part in training.