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On Thursday, FIFA announced that both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid had been given transfer bans. This means that they cannot sign (register) new players over the course of the summer and next winter transfer windows. They are still eligible to sign players over the course of the existing window.

This punishment was imposed on the two clubs as the result of a year-long investigation into their transfer dealings. Atletico were fined 900,000 Swiss francs (£622,000) while Real were told to pay 360,000 (£249,000).The statement from FIFA read “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned Spanish clubs Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid for breaches relating to the international transfer and registration of players under the age of 18.”

Essentially, the reasons behind the ban are identical to the reasons for Barcelona’s one-year transfer ban in that FIFA found irregularities in the transfer and registration of players under the age of 18. As things stand, both Madrid clubs will be unaffected by the ban for the existing transfer window, but will be unable to sign players in either the summer transfer window or the next winter transfer window as well.


Technically, the imposition of the ban does not prevent the purchase of players, as the sanctions imposed by the ban are only on the registration of players. This means that either club could enter into an agreement with any other club to purchase a player, but have him eligible to play for them only after the conclusion of the ban. This approach is similar to what Barcelona did with the signing of Arda Turan.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that it doesn’t affect the release of players, nor the women’s or futsal teams of either club.

So what exactly are the reasons for the ban?

The clubs were found to be in breach of Article 19 of FIFA’s transfer regulations, which state that transfers of under-18 players can only happen if one of the following three conditions is met:

1) Both the player’s parents have moved to the city where the new club is based and have made the move for reasons not related to the transfer. 

2) The transfer is between two European clubs and the player is over 16. 


3) If a player lives 50 km from the border of the country he is moving to and the club is also 50km from the same border.

They were also found to be in violation of Article 5 (on registration of players) and Article 9 (on the requirement for an international transfer certificate for each signing). The regulations in full may be accessed here.

The FIFA investigation concluded that Real Madrid had been involved in these sorts of activities from 2005-2014 while Atletico have been found to have been engaged in it from 2007-2014. The two clubs between them are believed to have signed more than 60 under-18 players over this time frame. Bizarrely, the children of current Real Madrid coach and legend Zinedine Zidane are also believed to be amongst the player registrations that are in contravention of FIFA guidelines (made even more surprising by the fact that they have been living in Madrid since 2001).

What options do the two clubs have?

Both clubs can choose to appeal the ruling, or accept it in totality. Atletico have already said that they will appeal the ruling, and Real are likely to follow suit.  The first appeal would lie to FIFA and would seek special consideration to sign players next summer because the result of their appeal could come just a few weeks before the end of the season leaving them in dire straits regarding the state of their squad for the next season.

Based on the precedent set by the Barcelona episode, FIFA is likely to reject their appeals. The clubs would then have the option of appealing to the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS). The CAS decision is likely to be made towards the beginning of the summer transfer window and it is possible based on the Barcelona precedent that one window is granted to them to sort the squad out.

During the appeals process, the clubs would be able to sign and register players while the matter is being heard by CAS. Barcelona used this technicality of procedure to sign Luis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic after the initial imposition of their ban. Both players were key components of their subsequent treble-winning season.  It is very likely that both the Madrid clubs will adopt this approach.

The other option for the clubs (which is very unlikely) is for them to accept the decision without an appeal and look to their youth teams/loanees to bolster the squad for the next year or so. While both clubs no doubt have fantastic talent in both their youth squads as well as players on loan, this approach would seem less than ideal without making the attempt to appeal FIFA’s ruling.

An important thing to keep in mind is that the current ban does not affect players who are out on loan from either club, as their transfer and registration have already taken place.

How is this different from Barcelona’s ban?

In purely substantive terms, it isn’t. Both Madrid clubs have been sanctioned for the same offences that Barcelona had committed. There is one key difference though and that is with regards to the timing of the incident. Barcelona’s ban was announced in April, meaning that the whole appeals process would start (and conclude) closer to the summer transfer window, giving them time to sort out kinks and the squad and recruit as needed.

Two of the additions from that period, Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez (as already mentioned) were key in their highly successful season that followed. The timing of the ban for the Madrid clubs makes the manoeuvring of procedure and administrative rules a little bit harder, as there is already a transfer window in place. This means that the timing of the lodging of appeals, as well as the appeals process itself, is less favourable to the clubs, as it may conclude before the summer transfer window.

LIL KESH is talking.... BULLSHIT

D first tym I was FTC was on my post...well I dedicate it to all d jambites

When Aaron Ramsey scores, famous people usually die within the next 24 hours
The unfortunate death of Alan Rickman, the respected British actor who famously played the character of Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies, has brought into focus Aaron Ramsey's supposed 'goalscoring curse’ once again. This comes just a few days after the sudden demise of David Bowie, whose passing also had people talking about the Curse.

But what is the Ramsey Curse, exactly? It's an urban legend that could be viewed as either tremendously spooky or pure coincidental, depending on your point of view.

When Ramsey returned after a horrific injury (he broke his leg at Stoke City after a horrific tackle) and scored a winner against Manchester United on 1 May 2011, the then-20-year-old midfielder was over the moon. In that 1-0 win at the Emirates, he was vindicated after a number of people said his career was over. 


The very next day, the most wanted terrorist in the world was dead. Osama bin Laden was killed by US Navy SEALs in a house in Abbottabad, Pakistan. While the death itself was celebrated, nobody bothered to link it with Ramsey’s comeback goal back then.

However, when he started scoring on a more regular basis for the Gunners, a pattern started to emerge. Soon, famous personalities – both good and bad – were victims of the so-called ‘Ramsey Curse’. When the Welshman scored a goal, a celebrity was reported dead soon after, most often within the next 24 hours.

From Apple founder Steve Jobs to Muammar Gaddafi, they have all met a similar fate – death after a Ramsey goal. The midfielder himself was not too keen to talk about it and seemed uncomfortable when the subject was brought up in an interview.

I didn’t find it funny: Ramsey

“The most ridiculous rumour I’ve heard is that people die after I score,” Ramsey had said. “There have been loads of occasions where I’ve scored and somebody hasn't died. That’s just a crazy rumour. I didn’t really find it funny.”

Of course, nobody is really suggesting Ramsey is killing them off with every goal he has scored. There have been other days when life moved on even though he found himself on the scoresheet – especially the 2013/14 season, when he scored 16 goals in all competitions. 


But the coincidences of some of the famous deaths are more than just freaky. Here are a few which people the world over will definitely remember. The last week itself saw entertainment stalwarts David Bowie and Alan Rickman die at the age of 69 after losing battles with cancer, each within a day of a Ramsey goal.

#DateMatchCelebrity Death
11 May 2011Arsenal 1-0 Manchester UnitedOsama bin Laden
22 October 2011Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 ArsenalSteve Jobs
319 October 2011Marseille 0-1 ArsenalMuammar Gaddafi
411 February 2012Sunderland 1-2 ArsenalWhitney Houston
530 November 2013Cardiff City 0-3 ArsenalPaul Walker
620 April 2014Hull City 0-3 ArsenalRubin "Hurricane" Carter
710 August 2014Arsenal 3-0 Manchester CityRobin Williams
823 August 2014Everton 2-2 ArsenalRichard Attenborough
99 January 2016Arsenal 3-1 SunderlandDavid Bowie
1013 January 2016Liverpool 3-3 ArsenalAlan Rickman

Ok

4th to comment....getting close to FTC

God help our soldiers


Soldiers...E le won

Some pple jst come here to say rubbish...okorocha nice one jare...and to all dose who are against his opinion, can u come out boldly to defend ur SSCE result??
Some pple jst come here to say rubbish...okorocha nice one jare...and to all dose who are against his opinion, can u come out boldly to defend ur SSCE result??

Wen would ffk nd fayose stop all dis rubbish...trouble evriday against buhari...re dey fighting for d nation or dey re jst fighting for dier own selfidh interest....

Am not gonna say anything...I'll jst keep collating d stories....

Can I eva be d FTC on nairaland??

Hmmmmm.....in lasisi's words...end time kidnapping