Barça ready to take Arda registration fight to CAS

MADRID - Reuters

AFP Photo

Barcelona is prepared to take its bid to register Turkey playmaker Arda Turan to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the Spanish and European champion said on Oct. 14. 

As things stand, Barça is unable to register Arda, who the club signed from Atletico Madrid in the close season, until January because of a ban imposed on the club by FIFA for breaking rules on the transfer of minors. 

However, a serious knee injury to Rafinha last month prompted Barça to ask the Spanish football federation (RFEF) and FIFA, football’s world governing body, if they could replace the Brazil midfielder in the squad with Arda. 

Barça was prevented from registering players for two transfer windows, with the ban officially expiring at the close of the last window. 

While the club would normally have to wait for the new window to open in January, rules stipulate that in emergency cases such as injury, players can be registered outside the scheduled transfer windows. 

“The legal department has confirmed that FIFA has not responded to the latest request presented on Friday, the third the club made,” Barça said on its website after a board meeting on Oct. 14. 

“Given the lack of a reply, an appeal will be presented tomorrow to FIFA’s appeals committee as a precursor to an appeal to CAS,” the statement added. 

Lausanne, Switzerland-based CAS attempts to resolve sporting disputes through arbitration and its rulings carry the same weight as judgments by ordinary courts. 

Barça is suffering something of an injury crisis, with Argentina forward Lionel Messi and Spain playmaker Andres Iniesta also sidelined. 

Its next outing is a La Liga game at home to Rayo Vallecano on Oct. 17 before it plays at BATE Borisov in Champions League Group E on Oct. 20.