FIFA published a new database of clubs banned from registering new players on Thursday (Jan. 11). This list includes top African teams, six in Saudi Arabia and five in the Argentine championship.
Sanctioned clubs include San Lorenzo (Argentina), Wydad (Morocco), and TP Mazembe (DRC) who, since 2010, have all won continental championships and participated in the FIFA Club World Cup.
FIFA can impose bans usually for two or three transfer windows after clubs have broken transfer rules or have unpaid transfer debts to other clubs. In some cases, bans can be lifted by settling the debt, as Cristiano Ronaldo’s Saudi club Al Nassr did last year in a deal with Leicester.
Men and women’s clubs banned from registering players – in cases often called “transfer bans” – can sign new players, but cannot field them in matches because they cannot register them with the national federation.
Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid have been hit with a registration ban by FIFA over the past decade in cases involving the signing of youth players to international contracts. Bans are generally frozen until appeals are completed.
In similar cases in 2019, Chelsea were subject to a ban during a negotiating window before winning their appeal. Manchester City avoided a ban by paying FIFA a fine of 370 000 Swiss francs ($432,000) in 2019.
The current list includes three of the eight clubs that participated in the first edition of the African Football League this season: Wydad (Morocco), Esperance ( Tunisia ), and TP Mazembe (DRC). Another African power, Zamalek of Egypt, is also on the list, but details of its case are not published.
“The main objective of this new tool is to provide stakeholders, including players and clubs, as well as the general public, with an overview of all clubs currently blocked from registering new players, ” FIFA said in a statement.
Saudi Pro League clubs Al Raed and Al Wehda were recently banned from registering for three commercial windows, and four second-division clubs are also on the FIFA list: Al Faisaly, Al Qaisumah, Jeddah, and Ohod.
In Argentina, the clubs that cannot register new players are Banfield, Central Cordoba, Independiente, San Lorenzo, and Union.
FIFA’s database on Thursday included 78 lists of cases involving Chinese clubs and numerous cases in Ukraine where clubs lost revenue from ticket sales, broadcasting, and sponsorship deals during the military invasion Russian.
Find the full list of clubs banned from transfers here .
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