June 15 – Italian Serie A club Spezia Calcio have been cleared to resume player trading by sport’s highest court after winning an appeal against a FIFA transfer ban.
The two-year ban was imposed based on the previous owners breaking transfer rules by allegedly recruiting young players from Africa – before the current American owners took charge.
Spezia served the first part of its punishment during the January transfer window and have now had the sanction halved by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which suspended the current summer window ban for a probationary period of three years.
“The CAS panel in charge of this matter found the number of violations committed by the club to be much lower than the FIFA Disciplinary Committee had determined,” the court said.
CAS fast-tracked the case to ensure clarity ahead of the Italian transfer window opening.
In a statement, club president Philip Platek said “we can finally leave this matter behind us and look to the future with optimism and the usual desire to work for the good of Spezia.”
The club also recouped CHF300,000 from the appeal, the judges having cut the CHF500,000 fine originally imposed by FIFA.
The allegations dated from 2013 to 2018 and Spezia had long argued that FIFA’s investigation was “not properly disclosed” when the Platek family bought the club in February 2021.
“The new ownership group and myself had no role in any alleged transgressions and strongly condemn every system which includes the transfer of minors,” Platek said at the time.
Despite serving the January ban, Spezia managed to finish 16th in Serie A to earn a third season in the Italian top tier.
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