Chelsea have been given a two transfer window ban by for breaching the rules around the transfer of minors — and it could see Eden Hazard stay at Stamford Bridge.
The west London club have been found to have breached article 19 of FIFA's regulations with regards to the transfer of 29 minor players and article 18 regarding two further minors.
They have now been banned from registering new players for the next two transfer windows — the coming summer window and next January.
They are likely to appeal to FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport. That means they will almost certainly be able to get the ban pushed back until after the summer window, in order to do any key business.
They have also been fined 600,000 Swiss Francs (£460,314). The FA have been found to have breached the rules in connection with minors too and have been fined 510,000 Swiss Francs (£391,260) — they have announced they will be appealing that decision.
Chelsea will now be desperate to keep hold of Hazard despite the serious interest from Real Madrid. The Belgian is a long-term target for Real but with Chelsea limited when it comes to signing replacements, he may have to stay.
Callum Hudson-Odoi may also struggle to move to Bayern Munich, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek could have to stay at Stamford Bridge.
They will have to make decisions over the futures of David Luiz, Olivier Giroud, Gary Cahill, Willy Caballero and Rob Green. Their contracts run out in the summer but Chelsea can renew their deals in lieu of signing new players.
They will lose Gonzalo Higuain and Mateo Kovacic, pending their likely appeal, whose loans will expire in the summer.
The signing of Bertrand Traore in 2014 sparked the investigation into their business. This took place over three years, from 2015.
They are thought to have signed Traore before his 18th birthday, and have provided misleading information as to when he was signed.
Chelsea paid his mother £155,000 in 2011 to take a first refusal option on him and then £13,000 to the club chaired by his mother, AJE Bobo-Dioulasso.
Traore was sold to French side Lyon in June 2017 for £8.8million, having played a total of 16 games for Chelsea.
A FIFA statement read: 'The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned the English club Chelsea FC and The Football Association for breaches relating to the international transfer and registration of players under the age of 18.
-Dailymail