Barcelona will not be allowed to sign any
players in 2015 after their appeal against a
transfer ban was dismissed by the Court of
Arbitration for Sport.
The Spanish club was handed a 14-month ban in
April after being found guilty of breaching Fifa's
rules on the transfer of players aged under 18.
Fifa rejected an appeal in August but the
pending appeal to Cas allowed Barca to sign
players including Luis Suarez.
Barcelona has expressed its "utter nonconformity
with the resolution".
The players concerned in the infringement of Fifa
rules were registered and participated in
competitions with Barcelona between 2009 and
2013.
Cas said: "The panel found in particular that FC
Barcelona had breached the rules regarding the
protection of minors and the registration of
minors attending football academies.
"Accordingly, the Fifa decision is confirmed in
full and the sanction remains in force.
"In view of the need to issue a decision before
the opening of the next transfer window, the
panel has issued its decision without the
grounds. The full arbitral award, with the
reasons for the panel's decision, will be issued as
soon as possible."
A Barcelona statement added: "The errors that
the club might have committed, and which have
been recognised and argued before the corresponding authorities, are, in all cases, of an administrative nature and to a large extent have
been caused by the existing conflict between the
Fifa regulations and Spanish legislation, along with the club's conviction that it was acting correctly.
"Therefore, FC Barcelona considers the sanction
to be completely disproportionate as it supposes an excessive punishment for the club, when considering its trajectory and the circumstances of this specific case."
Barca went on a summer spending spree this
year while the suspension went on hold during
the appeals process, splashing out more than
150m euros (£117.5m) on Suarez, Ivan Rakitic,
Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Thomas Vermaelen,
Claudio Bravo, Jeremy Mathieu and Alen
Halilovic.
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