La Liga side Atlético Madrid "will not be able to sign new players this summer" as its transfer ban has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, according to the BBC. The Spanish side was banned in July '16 from registering players for two transfer windows for breaching FIFA rules over the "signing of minors." In a statement, Atlético said, "This ruling is unfair and causes an irreparable damage to our club." In December, Real Madrid had its ban for the same offense halved on appeal. Atlético added that the decision amounts to "comparative disadvantage and discriminatory treatment" of the club, given Real will now be able to sign players in the transfer window that starts on July 1. CAS reduced Atlético's fine from 900,000 Swiss francs ($926,400) to 550,000 ($566,100) (BBC, 6/1). The London TELEGRAPH reported Atlético will be "powerless to turn down a bid if, as expected," ManU triggers forward Antoine Griezmann's £87M ($112.1M) release clause. FIFA imposed a one-year ban on Atlético for breaking rules to "prevent child trafficking and luring youngsters from their home country." The club "denied wrongdoing, though it agreed not to sign players in the January transfer window while its appeal at CAS went ahead" (TELEGRAPH, 6/1). ESPN.com's Dermot Corrigan reported the three-judge tribunal decided that Atlético's case was different than Real's and the club must serve its ban in full -- "as Barcelona did" through '15 when found guilty of "similar breaches of transfer rules" (ESPN.com, 6/1). REUTERS' Richard Martin reported FIFA said, "With this decision, FIFA considers that CAS has shown once again clear and strong support for FIFA's efforts to protect underage players. The protection of minors is one of the key pillars of FIFA" (REUTERS, 6/1).
