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FIFA rejects Barcelona's appeal against a transfer ban
The Catalan club will be unable to sign new players until January 2016
The ban was meted out after FIFA ruled Barca had breached rules relating to youth players
Barca intends to appeal the ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport
Luis Suarez could be the last big-money signing top European club Barcelona makes for quite some time.
The Spanish football club has seen its appeal against a ban on buying new players rejected by the sport’s global governing body FIFA.
Barca plans to appeal the sanction, which prohibits the club from signing any new players until January 2016, at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS.)
The punishment was meted out in April, when FIFA ruled Barca had breached rules relating to the transfers of players under the age of 18.
“Barcelona announces that it shall continue defending its interests before the highest sporting authority, in this case the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS),” read a statement from the club.
“Barcelona may not in any way share a resolution that is an affront to the spirit of our Masia (its youth academy,) a world renowned example of academic, human and sporting education.”
Barca was allowed to sign players during the current transfer window, which closes on September 1, after FIFA suspended the ban while the appeal was in progress.
The Catalan team spent a reported $128.5 million to sign Uruguay international Suarez from Liverpool. The striker is currently serving a ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini while playing for Uruguay at the World Cup.
Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen was brought in from Arsenal for a fee of euros $25m while French defender Jeremy Mathieu and Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo were signed from Valencia and Real Sociedad respectively.
Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic from Sevilla joined Barca for a fee of $23.9m with the club also paying $3m to Dinamo Zagreb for Alen Halilovic.