All clubs concerned were found guilty of failing to comply with previous decisions of a FIFA body or a subsequent CAS appeal decision ordering them to pay significant overdue amounts of money to players.
The sanctions imposed by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee are as follows:
- The club Qatar Sports Club, Qatar, was sanctioned with a fine of CHF 30,000 and given a final deadline of 90 days to pay the outstanding amounts. The club will face an automatic deduction of six points and the automatic imposition of a transfer ban for four entire and consecutive registration periods if it fails to meet the final deadline.
- The club Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club, United Arab Emirates, was sanctioned with a fine of CHF 30,000 and given a final deadline of 90 days to pay the outstanding amounts. The club will face an automatic deduction of six points and the automatic imposition of a transfer ban for two entire and consecutive registration periods if it fails to meet the final deadline.
- The club Al-Shamal Sports Club, Qatar, was sanctioned with a fine of CHF 15,000 and given a final deadline of 30 days to pay the outstanding amounts. The club will face an automatic deduction of six points and the automatic imposition of a transfer ban for one registration period if it fails to meet the final deadline.
- The club Saba Qom Football Club, IR Iran, was sanctioned with a fine of CHF 10,000 and given a final deadline of 30 days to pay the outstanding amounts. The club will face an automatic deduction of six points and the automatic imposition of a transfer ban for one registration period if it fails to meet the final deadline.
In accordance with FIFA circular no. 1628 and in order to ensure that all decisions passed by FIFA bodies are respected as soon as they are issued, should the relevant amounts due not be paid in full by the debtor by the final deadline, the debtor’s association will be required to automatically apply the points deduction and/or the ban from registering any new players.
Should a member association fail to automatically implement said sanctions at national level and provide the secretariat to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee with proof of the implementation of the points deduction and/or transfer ban, disciplinary proceedings – which may lead to an expulsion from all FIFA competitions – may be opened against the association concerned.
In addition to the above decisions concerning overdue payables, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned the club Atletico de Madrid, Spain, with a fine of CHF 52,500 and a warning for breaching art. 18bis of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (2014 edition), as well as Annexe 3 of said regulations. The club was found to be liable for entering into a contract that enabled a third party to influence the club’s independence in employment and transfer-related matters and entering incorrect information in the International Transfer Matching System (ITMS).