Chelsea is facing a two-year transfer ban for signing 14 U18 players illegally following a judgment from FIFA's Integrity & Compliance unit. The recommendation for a transfer embargo for four windows, revealed by the French site Mediapart, which is one of the organizations publishing documents obtained by Football Leaks, follows a three-year FIFA investigation into 19 signings made by Chelsea, 14 of which were under the age of 18 (LONDON TIMES, 11/14).
Investigators raided Belgian football club Royal Excel Mouscron on Wednesday and "detained three people suspected of funnelling illicit funding from offshore companies" and illegally obtaining a license to operate as a professional club, prosecutors said. The case is "the second recent investigation into suspected fraud and money laundering" in Belgian football. In October, there was "a wave of raids and arrests," including of two referees, football agents and the coach of Belgian side Club Brugge (REUTERS, 11/14).
Sauber Motorsport partnered with junior single-seater team Charouz Racing System to form a young driver development program. Sauber "has not previously had a defined junior operation but has established close ties to Ferrari," having handed Charles Leclerc his Formula 1 debut this season. Under the new agreement, Sauber Junior Team drivers are set to compete in the respective junior categories, "providing youngsters with a path" to F1 (MOTORSPORT, 11/14).
Man City's global community initiative, Cityzens Giving, is back for a fifth year. Fans will have the power to choose which projects they support, with Man City owner City Football Group and its partners contributing £400,000 ($521,000) toward this year's campaign, which will bring the total raised since Cityzens Giving started in '14 to £2.4M ($3.1M) (Cityzens Giving).
