Barca ban suspended

Barcelona's one-year transfer ban has been
suspended while the club's appeal against
the sanction remains unresolved.
FIFA has cleared the Spanish club to sign
players from July 1, with their case unlikely
to be resolved before the transfer window
opens for the summer.
They were barred from registering new
players earlier this month by FIFA's
disciplinary committee as punishment for
signing youth players from overseas in
breach of rules designed to prevent child
trafficking.
The club was found to have broken the
rules in the case of 10 under-18 players
with a 14-month transfer ban and a fine of
£305,000 as punishment.
FIFA only allows international youth
transfers when one of three situations
apply; the player's parents have moved
country for their own, non-related reason,
the move takes place within the European
Union if a player is aged between 16 and
18 or the player's home is less than 50
kilometres from the national border being
crossed.
The Spanish FA was fined £340,000 for rule
breaches in terms of registering the
players, who include 15-year-old South
Korea striker Lee Seung Woo.
Barcelona have pledged to pursue a further
challenge at the Court of Arbitration for
Sport if, as expected, they lose the initial
appeal at FIFA.
A FIFA statement said: "The chairman of
the FIFA appeal committee considered that
the appeal lodged by the club is to be
granted suspensive effect."
Barcelona have been linked with moves for
teenage Croatia star Alen Halilovic and
Borussia Monchengladbach keeper Marc
Ter Stegen, which had been placed in
doubt when the ban was first handed out.