Bet They're Wishing They'd Signed Ribery Last Month...

Football365 | All The News | Football News | BLUES BUYS BANNED UNTIL 2011

Chelsea have been banned from registering any new players for the next two transfer windows after FIFA found them guilty of inducing a French teenager to breach his contract with another club.

Gael Kakuta, 18, joined Chelsea from Lens two years ago but the French club lodged a complaint with the sport's world governing body.

Now FIFA's dispute resolution chamber (DRC) has ruled that Kakuta breached his contract with Lens and that Chelsea induced him to do so.

Talk about some stunning news from out of nowhere.  Either the editors at Football365 are having some fun with us in the wake of the transfer window closing and their being no more sensational stories of immediate interest or FIFA have over-reacted to something that doesn't seem to merit it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sort of giddy at the notion of Chelsea not being able to throw their cash around in January or next Summer but isn't this entirely on the player?  A club can't force a player to breach a contract, they can only suggest it and facilitate it by being willing to sign a player who has made that decision.  You can argue that in signing the player, they have acted unethically but it seems minor in contrast to the type of "tapping up" that goes on all the time - Real Madrid being the masters. 

Is this FIFA finally finding a way to hit back at Chelsea for buying success as opposed to building it organically the way they perceive Real, Bacra, Milan, ManYoo, and Arsenal have done?  Is it just that there is more of a paper trail than there ever is in any of the alleged "tapping up" situations? 

Regardless, just a bizarre thing to wake up to this morning.  Even more so when you think about how old Chelsea's current squad is and the impact that not refreshing their talent base might have if any of their main cogs (Lamps, JT, Drogs, Elk) fall off significantly between now and January 2011 when they can next buy players.