Manager won't rush for Chelsea chequebook

2009/11/08

LONDON: Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti insisted on Friday that he will not be rushing for the Stamford Bridge chequebook despite a transfer ban being lifted on the Premier League leaders.

The high-flying London club had been banned by Fifa from signing any new players until January 2011 after they were accused of encouraging French youngster Gael Kakuta to break a contract with his first club, Lens.

But on Friday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) temporarily lifted the four-month suspension pending a full ruling by arbitrators which now allows Chelsea to reinforce their squad in the January transfer window.

Ancelotti said: "We can buy players in January, but we don't want to take a decision in this moment.

"I'm very happy with the squad and it's not necessary at the moment to take new players.

"I know we will lose four players in January (to the African Cup of Nations), but if we maintain the players' fitness, we can have a good period also without the African players."

Earlier, CAS released a statement from its headquarters in Lausanne in which it explained its decision.

"The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has granted the request for a stay filed by Chelsea Football Club Ltd and Mr Gael Kakuta in relation to the decision taken by the Fifa Dispute Resolution Chamber on 27 August 2009," it said.

Chelsea had asked for a suspension in a bid to sign new players during the January transfer window.

The arbitrators normally take about four months to rule on cases from the moment they were lodged -- in Chelsea and Kakuta's case on Oct 22.

That would potentially leave the London side free to take part in the next transfer window between Jan 1 and 31, 2010.

The court has not yet set a date for a hearing on the case, staff said.

FIFA has been trying to clamp down on the practice of negotiating and making deals with players already under contract with another club, especially those involving youngsters. -- AFP