It seems like this is all coming out of nowhere. Any fan of the game knows that the “tapping-up” allegations have always been prominent but rarely has it been so harshly punished. From United’s perspective, they were accused of tapping up Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney in the recent past and accused Real Madrid of tapping-up Ronaldo(the accusing needed not be done, Ronaldo was caught on camera). Now, we have the tapping up issue of Paul Pogba.

This morning, FIFA announced the two-year transfer ban of Chelsea Football Club for acquiring the signature of Gael Kakuta, who had signed a non-solicitation agreement with French club Lens. This evening, The Times are reporting that a similar case has been filed against United for the signing of Le Havre youngster Paul Pogba and that the situation is not yet resolved, according the club’s managing director.

In a matter of days, we’ve heard about three issues that could potentially harm English teams. First, Michel Platini singled out Manchester City’s spending and claimed they would not be allowed to participate in Europe if they could not balance the books – all the while not mentioning the actions of Real Madrid. Now there are two more issues with top English clubs that could see a serious downsizing of the English club dominance – assuming the sanctions are carried out.

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?