Chelsea were slapped with a two-window transfer ban back in February after the London club were found guilty of violating the rules for signing players under the age of 18.
Apart from the ban, the Blues were also fined £460,000 but the club chose to challenge the decision.
Chelsea appealed the transfer ban to FIFA’s Appeal Committee but last week it was confirmed that the ban has been upheld meaning the club would not be able to sign any new players during the summer transfer window.
But now in an interview, the chariman of the FIFA Appeal Committee – Thomas Bodström has revealed why the committee chose to uphold the ban and why they excluded the signing of domestic players under the age of 16.
“No, I would not say so. We deliberated for several hours and were very thorough. It was a large number of players and many objections. We had to deal with very skilful lawyers and we negotiated for hours,” he said(as reported).
“I think it should be the same, but of course Chelsea have obviously bigger resources and can act according to them. They came with very skilful lawyers, and I am a lawyer myself, so it was an experience. But the rules are the same.
“We upheld a big part of the ruling, but with an exception to British citizens. The ban is applicable to all international transfers to protect kids.
“But to protect the players who live in the Chelsea area they will have the opportunity to play. They should not be punished for this. Because then they would be affected by this in a harder way than others.
“Those who come from other places and are 16, 17, 18 years old can go to other clubs, but the domestic players maybe can’t,
“The part about youth players is incredibly important. Of course, there are many clubs who are serious, and Chelsea will be in the future, but the kids can get hurt if the clubs don’t follow the rules.
“There is a strong protection interest because many players come from poor countries. They might not be able to return, and end up in a totally different environment in a foreign country. The rules must be followed.”
“I’m only on this committee, so I can’t answer why[why FIFA did not decide to make the exception regarding domestic players in the first instance].
“I only have an influence over the cases that I rule in and nothing else. But I do hope that this can become precedent. It is not the kids that should be punished, but the clubs”.
