It’s funny how karma works. Chelsea took an inhumanely stern line with Adrian Mutu, and now FIFA has taken a stern line with them.
The Blues have been found guilty of “inducing” French midfielder Gael Kakuta to break his contract with Lens in 2007. FIFA has forbid them to participate in the next two transfer windows, barring them from signing a player until 2011.
Chelsea was also fined €130,000. Kakuta has been fined €780,000 and banned for the next four months.
Kakuta is the brightest star in Chelsea’s academy. He’s an attacking left-winger, who was the youth team’s top scorer and academy player of the year. He was named in Chelsea’s Champions League squad before the ruling.
Chelsea have been found guilty of malfeasance in the transfer market before. The Premier League fined Chelsea £300,000, Jose Mourinho £200,000 and Ashley Cole £100,000 in the tapping up scandal of 2005.
The Blues have ten days to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It’s probably a safe bet they will do so.
Is the penalty too harsh? Can Chelsea compete for the Champions League, or even the Premier League without bringing in fresh talent?
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Same happened with Roma and Mexes. That ban was reduced after appeal, so they were only frozen out of the winter window
Seems like a fair deal.
I just find it funny that Chelsea get taken to the cleaners for something that EVERY single top club does. Fabregas to Arsenal? Macheda to United? The list goes on. Weird that they decide to have a go at Chelsea, but not the others
PS: Wrong picture. Thats not Kakuta, thats Frank Noble
I have to agree. This is a pretty rampant problem, but at least it is a place to start. As a Chelsea supporter, I’m oddly happy that something like this came down. Sure it is detrimental to the Blues, but it would be much more palatable if FIFA uses similar tactics on other clubs going forward. That’s not meant to be a retaliatory measure, but an effort to offer stiff penalties if it does, in fact, help clean up the system in the long run.
I’m sure you’re also against Eduardo’s two match ban?
uefa really has it out for chelsea & england, looks like. i doubt we would ever see a penalty like this for juventus or real madrid.
“It’s funny how karma works.”
Therefore, Mutu deserved everything that he got. That’s karma right?
Are Chelsea banned from taking players in on loan?
Chelsea hit with transfer ban until 2011 following shock Gael Kakuta ruling. Chelsea cannot sign new players for 2 registrations that implies until 2011 January it cannot sign up new players.
http://www.clbuzz.com/fifa-banned-chelsea-chelsea-hit-with-transfer-ban-until-2011/
Chelsea will be just fine, they have a great academy and a team full of young players…
Two days after the transfer window and one day after the Champions League squad is due. Don’t be so obvious, FIFA.
This is nothing more than a FIFA dog and pony show. Once Chelsea throw their pocketbooks open on the appeal, FIFA will back down. Mike in comment one is right on the money, they will end up being banned from signing anyone in the winter window and that’ll be that.
Until FIFA finally writes in stone what punishment will be for this type of case, and apply it to everyone equally, only then will this be stopped. Instead, former precedent and inconsistent rulings will see FIFA shamed yet again by over telegraphing their ruling.
The other thing that needs to be sorted by FIFA is when players can sign their first professional contract.
I just find the timing a bit suspicious.
2 days after the transfer window closes?
So now Chelsea have to wait over a year and a half?
Its Interesting, that’s all I have to say….
“Chelsea will be just fine, they have a great academy”
A great academy which has produced sadly ZERO first team players in many years. The academy is all hype at this point until we see at least one or two players break through.
“inhumanely stern line with adrian mutu”
I love it when bloggers try and pass for “journalists.” You do realize that Chelsea offered to help Mutu with his problem and he refused. HE REFUSED! What the hell else where the club supposed to do? When a player is that stupid (plus at the time he tried to play it off that it was supposed to him “in bed”) what is a club supposed to do? There is no cure for stupid.
Can we stop with the Mutu refused help stuff? Of course he refused and denied, that is what drug addicts do. It seems to be the common theme that until an addict hits rock bottom, they will not be able to turn it around. He did and has since turned his life around. Good for him now give him the second chance we give everyone else that has been in a similar situation.
So Chelsea are just supposed to sit by for how long with him on the bench (because he certainly couldnt play) and wait for him to hit “rock bottom?” Chelsea should then have waited a month? Two? Chelsea did what was right legally and morally. NO ONE forced Mutu to sniff cocaine. The lack of personal responsibility in this case astounds me and yet Chelsea are the ones vilified. Trust me, this wouldnt have even been a story if Mutu had played for a mid-table club but because a Chelsea crest is involved the idiots and haters come out in force.
Where did I say that Chelsea was wrong in getting rid of him? Where did I say Mutu was not to blame for getting hooked in the first place? My point was I am tired of this Chelsea offered him help argument. It just does not work that way with drug addicts. Actually if anything Chelsea firing him may have been what helped him realize he had a problem and turn his life around.
Now I do disagree with Chelsea going after him for money they say he cost them. They fired him, they washed their hands of him, too bad for them he got himself together. I can only imagine if this type of ruling went past just the sports world. Imagine employers suing employees they got rid of saying you would have made us X amount of money, pay us because you screwed up. I don’t think it should work that way in this case or any case. That’s just my opinion on it.
Here you go again with more anti chelsea propaganda. You should change the name of you blog to anti-chelsea-talk.com.