Cologne to appeal FIFA transfer ban at CAS

[FILES] The FIFA logo is seen outside the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, December 17, 2015. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich

Bundesliga club Cologne will appeal a transfer ban imposed by the ruling body FIFA in connection with the signing of a youth player at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Cologne said they also want the FIFA ruling suspended until a final ruling has been made.

FIFA has ruled that Cologne can not sign any new players in the next two transfer windows in the summer of 2023 and January 2024.

The decision comes around last year’s signing of teenager Jaka Potocnik from Olimpija Ljubljana for Cologne’s academy.

The Slovenian club alleged that Cologne incited Potocnik to breach his contract and sought damages via FIFA which ruled that Potocnik terminated his contract without legal grounds.

Cologne said it received the ruling earlier Wednesday, which included a four-month ban for Potocnik who together with Cologne must also pay Ljubljana 51,750 euros (56,100 dollars) in damages.

Cologne insisted Potocnik came to them “after he opted to cancel his contract at Olimpija Ljubljana following multiple breaches of contract by the club.”

But it added “had not been able to refute the assumption that, as the new club, it had incited the player to breach the contract” in the FIFA case.

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