Chelsea’s transfer ban upheld after FIFA rejects club’s appeal

FIFA rejected the club's appeal to continue to buy and loan out a million players a year

Chelsea will not be able to purchase players during the next two transfer windows after FIFA rejected the club's appeal against its transfer ban on Wednesday. The club can however sign players under the age of 16 within the United Kingdom during the ban, which is the only change to their original punishment. "The FIFA appeal committee has decided to partially uphold the appeal lodged by Chelsea," FIFA said in a statement. "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." The world football governing body also said it found breaches in 29 cases out of the 92 investigated involving Chelsea. Chelsea's fine of £460,000 has been upheld following the appeal. FIFA also fined the FA £390,000 at the same time that it issued the ban to Chelsea, and also told the governing body that it must address issues pertaining to the case. Chelsea can now appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a bid to get the ban turned over.