London, Dec 6 (IANS): Premier League giants Chelsea are free to sign players in the January transfer window after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) halved the transfer ban it had imposed on the club. Chelsea were given a two-window ban and a fine of 600,000 Swiss francs by FIFA in February 2019 for breaching rules on signing young players.

The CAS, on an appeal from the former Premier League champions, has now reduced that ban to one window, which was served this year, and reduced the fine to 300,000 Swiss francs.

The CAS, in its statement said that it had found Chelsea "did violate Articles 19.1 (related to the international transfer of minors) and 19.3 (related to the first registration of minors) of the RSTP (FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players), but for a significantly smaller number of players (about 1/3 of the violations found by FIFA)."

"Accordingly, the Sole Arbitrator reduced the sanction to one single transfer ban (which Chelsea FC already served during the 2019 summer registration period), and halved the monetary sanction," it said.

--IANS

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