ZURICH // Fifa on Thursday dismissed appeals by Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid against a ban on registering new players in the next two transfer windows for irregularities in the signing of foreign players under 18.
Real, who called the ruling “profoundly unfair”, and Atletico were also fined 360,000 (Dh1.36 million) and 900,000 (Dh3.4 million) Swiss Francs respectively.
However, the two Spanish giants – last season’s Uefa Champions League finalists – have announced they will launch a final appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).
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“The Fifa Appeal Committee has decided to reject the appeals lodged by Spanish clubs Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid and to confirm in their entirety the decisions rendered by the Fifa Disciplinary Committee in the respective cases relating to the protection of minors,” Fifa said in a statement.
Both clubs were sanctioned in January, but by appealing had temporarily held off the ban during the transfer window which closed last month.
They will now not be able to register any new players in either of the next two windows, in January 2017 and July-August 2017, before being able to do so once again in January 2018.
Barcelona served a similar ban in 2015, with an appeal to Cas proving unsuccessful in their case.
European champions Real responded by saying they will now go to the Cas in an attempt to have the decision overturned “as quickly as possible”.
“The club regrets the decision on the ground that it is profoundly unfair and contrary to the most elementary principles of penal law,” read a statement posted on their website.
“The club will begin the appropriate appeals procedure before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, requesting that the decision be completely overturned, with absolute confidence that said organisation will come to an entirely favourable decision.
“Real Madrid will request that the procedure be undertaken in an urgent manner in order to obtain a decision from the Cas as quickly as possible.”
Under international football rules, players under 18 cannot be transferred to another country, except in limited circumstances, and all transfers need the approval of a special Fifa committee.
Atletico insisted they had such clearance from Fifa for the players under investigation.
“Our club does not agree with the ruling and therefore has decided to appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport,” Atletico said in a statement.
“Our organisation wishes to state that one hundred per cent of the licenses of our players who are part of this investigation and continue at the club have been regularised by Fifa itself, receiving authorisation from the sub-committee to process the license and compete in different [under-age] categories.”
Atletico used the summer window to make several new signings, including those of France striker Kevin Gameiro from Sevilla and Argentina midfielder Nicolas Gaitan from Benfica.
Real had an unusually quiet summer in the transfer market, although they did bring Spain striker Alvaro Morata back to the club from Juventus for around €30 million (Dh124m).
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
MATCH STATS
Wolves 0
Aston Villa 1 (El Ghazi 90 4' pen)
Red cards: Joao Moutinho (Wolves); Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa)
Man of the match: Emi Martinez (Aston Villa)
Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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