Fifa reject Barca appeal on transfer ban
Barcelona have been banned for two consecutive transfer windows after an appeal was rejected by Fifa.
The Catalans were found guilty of breaching rules regarding the transfer of under-age players in April and banned from the transfer market for 14 months.
While the ban was suspended for the appeal process, football's world governing body have upheld their original ruling and fined Barcelona 450,000 Swiss francs ($616,640) while getting their house in order.
A statement on Fifa's official website read: "The Fifa appeal committee has decided to reject the appeals lodged by Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF) and to confirm in their entirety the decisions rendered by the Fifa disciplinary committee in the respective cases relating to the protection of minors.
"As such, FC Barcelona is to serve a transfer ban which will see the club prevented from registering any players at both national and international level for two complete and consecutive transfer periods, starting with the next registration period (January 2015) given that the appeal of the club had been granted suspensive effect by the chairman of the FIFA Appeal Committee.
"FC Barcelona has also been ordered to pay a fine of 450,000 Swiss francs and been given a period of 90 days from today in which to regularise the situation of all minor players concerned.
"Meanwhile, the RFEF has been ordered to pay a fine of 500,000 Swiss francs and granted a period of one year in which to regularise their regulatory framework and existing system concerning the international transfer of minors in football.
"The terms of the decisions taken by the Fifa appeal committee were communicated to FC Barcelona and the RFEF today."
Source: Fifa
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