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Premiership Football News: Chelsea Transfer Ban

Andy Greeves

The biggest transfer story in the Premier League this summer came two days after the trading window had been closed.

FIFA's decision to ban Chelsea from any activity in the next two transfer windows has sent shock waves across the world of football. The punishment was handed out after the west London club was found guilty of inducing young starlet Gael Kakuta to break his contract when he moved from Lens in 2007. FIFA also banned Kakuta for playing for the next four months and fined him a total of £682,000.

FIFA's actions have been labelled as "totally disproportionate to the alleged offence" by Chelsea who said in a statement that they will "mount the strongest appeal possible" as a result. FIFA's action against the Blues can certainly be described as unprecedented in comparison to similar cases of 'tapping up', though a near identical punishment was handed to Roma in 2004 following their signing of Philippe Mexes. The Italian's two transfer window ban was reduced to one window though, following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Swiss side FC Sion and Spanish side Real Zaragoza have also received fines for their conduct in the transfer market recently.

Few sports lawyers in the UK expect Chelsea's two transfer window ban to be upheld after the Blues have their case read by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The common argument for the reduction of Chelsea's sentence centres around the belief that 'tapping up' (inducing a player to break his contract) is relative commonplace in football and it seems unfair that the Blues should be made an example of when such misconduct is happening elsewhere. FIFA's attempts to address the culture of elicit approaches for players is long overdue however and if Chelsea's punishment can prevent future cases of 'tapping up' by other clubs, then the football community outside of Stamford Bridge will be happy.

While it is universally generally agreed outside of FIFA HQ that Chelsea's punishment for their inappropriate signing of Kakuta is harsh, there are a number of clubs that will have little sympathy with Roman Abramovich and Co. In 2006, Leeds United launched a complaint to the Football Association, accusing Chelsea of tapping up youngsters Michael Wood and Tom Taiwo and also making an illegal approach for Danny Rose, now with Tottenham Hotspur. The same year, the club's sporting director Frank Arnesen was filmed by BBC's Panorama programme offering a Middlesbrough schoolboy footballer a payment of £150,000 to sign for Chelsea - though the Blues maintain there was no wrongdoing in this case.

The Blues have also invoked the wrath of London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal over their transfer dealings. Chelsea were fined £300k for their part in an illegal meeting to discuss a transfer with then Gunners star Ashley Cole in 2005 and were also forced to pay £5m to Spurs in compensation in 2006 after they had made an inappropriate approach for sporting director Frank Arnesen. Ironically, in light of the Kakuta story, Arnesen's job at Chelsea is in the balance according to a number of newspapers. Arnesen has been at the centre of most of Chelsea's major 'tapping up' cases.

Chelsea's alleged 'tapping up' of Kakuta hit a particularly raw nerve with FIFA given the player's age. When Kakuta moved from Lens to the Premier League, he was just 15. Players are increasingly moving between clubs at much younger ages these days and in much the same way as senior talent, the best goes to the biggest clubs. Whether these youngsters are moving to the clubs legally or illegally, one may question whether it is ethically right for trade to take place between two clubs when a child is involved. Premier League youth team's have significantly increased their quota of overseas players in the last decade, with little apparent thought given to the impact uprooting an individual at a young age may have.

The reality for small clubs in the trade of young players is often a harrowing one. Having spent many years developing a player in their academy, they can lose their talent for minimal compensation. While it is a logical that the best players will eventually end up playing for the biggest clubs, there seems little incentive for small club to run youth academies, knowing their best prospects will leave before they have even represented their side's first team. Worse still, at a price that doesn't justify the cost of running a youth academy in the first place.

Former Chelsea owner and current Leeds United chairman Ken Bates has launched a stinging attack on the Premier League big boys, telling the Daily Mail newspaper he believes they act like "Japanese fishing trawlers, sweeping up everything in their nets." He added that right now youth players are "being traded like horsemeat." Professional Footballers Association (PFA) president Peter Taylor has also expressed his concern at the trading of young players and advocated a ban on the transfer of footballers under the age of 18. "There's a general feeling that a ban on movement of players under the age of 18 would be better for the game," he told BBC FIVE Live's Sportsweek show.

As Chelsea take their legal fight against their transfer embargo to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the issues of 'tapping up' and the movement of youngsters within football will continue. French side Le Harve have fuelled the issue further, claiming Manchester United induced their talented midfielder Paul Pogba to move to Old Trafford by offering his parents 'very large' sums of money for the player to leave France and break his contract. Lazio made similar allegations about Manchester United over their signing of Federico Macheda, claiming the Reds offered 'millions of Euros' to his parents to force a transfer through.

UEFA proposed a possible future ban on the trading of under 18 players at a meeting earlier this year and the organisations president Michel Platini is keen for this to be imposed sooner rather than later. Such a ban would hopefully put pay to the unseemly stories that are increasing emerging regarding the movement of minors in world football.

Andy Greeves

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