April 6 – Liverpool have been fined £100,000 by the Premier League and handed a two-year ban on signing academy players from other English clubs for breaking strict recruitment rules.
The sanction relates to the club’s approach to a 12-year-old academy player at Stoke City in September last year.
Liverpool will be banned from signing any academy players who have been registered with a Premier League or English Football League club in the previous 18 months. This second year of the ban will be suspended for a three-year period.
Premier League rules ban the offer of any inducements from clubs to encourage a move. Liverpool have admitted the rule breaches.
The Premier League confirmed in a statement that it had “sanctioned Liverpool FC in respect of the club’s approaches towards, and offer of inducements to, an academy player registered with another club. The academy player concerned was previously registered at Stoke City FC. An application by Liverpool in September 2016 to register him, following Liverpool and Stoke agreeing compensation, was rejected by the Premier League board due to an offer to pay the player’s private school fees.
“In an investigation following that rejection, the Premier League found evidence that Liverpool’s conduct prior to applying to register the player contravened League rules.”
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