Court allows transfers for Chelsea

London: Chelsea were cleared to sign new players in the January transfer window yesterday after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) suspended a ban imposed by Fifa.

The English Premier League leaders had asked the Lausanne-based court for a stay until the result of an appeal was decided.

The CAS said in a statement that it had granted the request, with the sanctions suspended "until the CAS renders its final decision in this matter".

No date was given for the decision but one legal expert doubted a final verdict would be reached before March. Chelsea were banned from registering new players until January 2011 after being found guilty of inducing Gael Kakuta to break his contract with French club Racing Lens.

Kakuta was also banned from matches for Chelsea for four months while the club were ordered to pay compensation to Lens. The punishment was handed out after a contractual dispute involving the transfer of reserve team player Kakuta, now 18, from Lens in 2007.