Two of Spain's top football clubs, hailing from Madrid will have to bear with the transfer ban after FIFA rejected their appeal to lift the ban.
FIFA imposed a ban that forbade both the clubs, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, from adding new players to the roster for the next two transfer windows. The punishment was announced in January after the world football's governing body of the sport found the clubs guilty of violations which included contracting of players under the age of 18.
FIFA is yet to release the names of the players involved. However, on Thursday, Sept. 8, it confirmed both the clubs violated Article 19 of transfer regulations code, The Washington Post reported.
Article 19 has previously got clubs including Barcelona, which had to serve a two transfer window ban last year into trouble for signing underage players.
FIFA states in its regulation code that an international transfer of a player is only permitted if the player is above the age of 18. There are only three exceptions to this rule: the parents of a player move to the country for reasons other than football; a player transfer is between countries belonging to the European Union and is at least 16 years old; a player domiciles within 100 kilometers of the club over the border.
On Thursday, Sept. 8, when the news began making rounds, both the Madrid-clubs denounced the decision by announcing that they would appeal their case in the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS).
Zinedine Zidane, the manager of the Real Madrid has termed FIFA's decision as "absurd," Daily Mail reported.
Real Madrid termed the decision of FIFA "deeply unjust and contrary to the fundamental principles of disciplinary law" in a statement on its website and said "with absolute confidence" the club will get an "entirely favourable decision."
Atletico Madrid seemed less surprised by the decision, stating, "the club hired months ago a team of international experts to defend the case" in front of the CAS.
Apart from the bans imposed by FIFA, it has also fined both the clubs. Real has been asked to pay around $900,000 while Atletico $360,000.