In Soccer, No Ruling is Sacred

Roman’s checkbook just ran screaming into the distance (if checkbooks could run, mind you) with the news that the big, important, serious-sounding transfer ban imposed on Chelsea for irregularities has been suspended while some arbitration board looks things over. Hooray! Rejoice, money-soaked Blues! No worries about losing all your best players for the African Cup of Nations, as you can just buy a bunch of replacements.

For Ancelotti, it truly is Christmas come early.

Meanwhile, FIFA must wonder what on earth they have to do to make a ruling stick these days. Maybe they could… throw money at it?

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Comments

  1. On November 06, 2009 @ 10:04 Georger says:

    about sums it up

  2. On November 06, 2009 @ 10:44 phil says:

    We all knew this was coming. The big clubs play by a different set of rules.

  3. On November 06, 2009 @ 10:45 phil says:

    So, who does Roman buy now?

    I’m guessing Aguero, Bastos, and Diego.

  4. On November 06, 2009 @ 10:51 Georger says:

    Juventus Diego? Good luck with that.

  5. On November 06, 2009 @ 10:55 phil says:

    Yeah, that Diego. Juve paid *only* 24.5 mil euro for him; I’m sure Roman can top that.

  6. On November 06, 2009 @ 11:06 The Fan's Attic says:

    Except they just bought him. I doubt they would sell him without having a full season.

  7. On November 06, 2009 @ 11:12 Steve says:

    I really hope Aguero doesn’t go there. I like him at the moment, and a transfer there would have to end that.

  8. On November 06, 2009 @ 11:12 whizalen says:

    And Aguero is CL cup tied. Although that shouldn’t stop Roman from splashing 30mil about

  9. On November 06, 2009 @ 11:18 Georger says:

    I seriously doubt cup ties mean anything to them. They’re still going to have some sort of ban, probably get reduced just like Roma’s did. They can’t afford to assume they’ll be able to buy players in the summer. They’ll make runs at Aguero and Ribery, if not the Valencia boys.

  10. On November 06, 2009 @ 11:54 phil says:

    Good call on the Villa/Silva combo, Georger. I can see that. I think they’d have as much trouble trying to by Ribery as they’d have trying to buy Diego, though.

  11. On November 06, 2009 @ 11:57 Georger says:

    I’m not sure, Bayern are pretty much going to miss the CL knockouts and aren’t allowed to carry debt, they might end up needing cash. Plus they have been woefully underperforming the last three years, they may see fit to blow up part of the team.

  12. On November 06, 2009 @ 12:05 James T says:

    Err… Ribery is seriously injured right now?

  13. On November 06, 2009 @ 12:08 phil says:

    @JT: It didn’t stop Rafa, so it won’t stop Roman.

  14. On November 06, 2009 @ 12:08 Georger says:

    He’ll be back before the window is open he’s just got tendinitis, and since when does someone being seriously injured stop a team from spending boatloads of money on a player? Oh that’s just us that did that? Fuck.

  15. On November 06, 2009 @ 12:35 Magnakai Haaskivi says:

    Ribery will be better next year, though; they’re going to squeeze three windows into one and sort it out later.

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