FIFA want to enforce Chelsea’s two-year transfer ban even while the club lodge its appeal, according to The Sun.
This move could ruin the London club’s plans for a £200million spending spree in the summer, while it also casts doubt on whether Zinedine Zidane would replace Maurizio Sarri as boss.
Chelsea are due to serve the ban for alleged offences surrounding the signing of 29 young players.
By appealing the club thought they would be free to deal in the summer, as occurred when Barcelona and Atletico Madrid served their suspensions.
However, a FIFAinsider said: ‘The Spanish clubs were allowed to appeal because the statutes about transferring minors were relatively new.
‘Now they are established and confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
‘It may be the appeal committee thinks the previous cases have established the legitimacy of the statutes that Chelsea have been found guilty of breaking.’