Chelsea free to sign players in January after court reduces transfer ban

The Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced Chelsea's transfer ban on Friday, allowing the Premier League side to bring in players beginning in January.

The ban forbid the club from making signings last summer. FIFA imposed the penalty in February after the Blues were found to have breached rules relating to the signing of minors.

FIFA also fined Chelsea 600,000 Swiss francs. The club is now due to pay half that amount.

Upon appeal, Chelsea were found to have made only a third of the violations FIFA had recorded in its initial ruling. The club had been sanctioned for breaches involving 69 academy players over several years.

FIFA prohibits clubs from signing players under 18 years old unless the player lives within 100 kilometers of the buying team. If they live further away, a player's parents must move to the country in question for non-footballing reasons.

In 2016, the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced Real Madrid's ban for similar reasons. However, Atletico Madrid were forced to sit out two transfer windows for the same violation.