Serie A club Spezia have been banned from four transfer windows, starting in January next year, after breaching FIFA rules on signing minors, world soccer’s governing body said on Friday.
Spezia, who competed in the Italian top flight for the first time last season, were also fined 500,000 Swiss francs ($543,832) for the offence, which involved signing minors from Nigeria.
“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee found that Spezia Calcio had breached article 19 of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) by bringing several Nigerian minors into Italy using a scheme aimed at circumventing the aforesaid RSTP article as well as national immigration law,” a FIFA statement read.
“The protection of minors is a key objective of the regulatory framework governing the football transfer system.”
