Chelsea’s Transfer Ban Lifted

Premier League club Chelsea has had the transfer ban placed upon them lifted, after reaching an agreement with French side Lens over the signing of 18-year-old Gael Kakuta.

The ban was initially put on the club by the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber in September and barred Chelsea from signing new players until 2011 after being found guilty of persuading Kakuta to break his contract with Lens.

However, the two clubs and the teenager have now accepted that the player’s initial contract with the French side was not valid and The Court of Arbitration of Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, decided to lift the ban citing ‘Award by Consent’ in Chelsea’s favour.

Chelsea will now pay Lens £113,000 in compensation towards the costs of developing the player.

Kakuta joined Chelsea in 2007 and finished his first season at the club as the youth team’s top scorer and won the academy’s player of the year award.