Barcelona was cleared Wednesday to sign new players during the offseason after FIFA froze the Spanish soccer club’s one-year transfer embargo pending an appeal. Soccer’s world governing body said its appeal panel “considered that the appeal lodged by the club is to be granted suspensive effect.” Chairman Larry Mussenden made the decision because the case was unlikely to be resolved before the July 1st opening of the next transfer window, FIFA said. Barcelona can plan a transfer strategy in July and August to help protect the club against a potential ban on signing players throughout 2015.
FIFA’s disciplinary committee banned Barcelona from registering new players as punishment for signing youth players from overseas in breach of rules designed to prevent child trafficking. Barcelona’s temporary legal victory on Wednesday follows a pattern in similar cases where the appeal process is ongoing. Chelsea had a somewhat similar ban in 2009 during its dispute with FIFA over midfielder Gael Kakuta from French club Lens. But that case was eventually resolved by the clubs before a CAS panel could reach a verdict.
http://www.sportingnews.com/soccer/story/2014-04-23/barcelona-transfer-ban-suspended-fifa-la-liga-appeal-neymar-lionel-messi