The Court of Arbitration of Sport on Thursday said Chelsea and French club Lens had reached a settlement on their dispute over French player Gael Kakuta, definitively lifting sanctions on the London club.
The two sides and world football’s governing body FIFA agreed that the contract between the player and Lens was not valid and Chelsea could not have been liable for inducing a breach of contract, the CAS said.
“As a consequence, in light of these new circumstances, the sanctions imposed upon Chelsea FC and the player by the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber had to be lifted,” the court added in a statement.
FIFA had ruled last September that Kakuta’s 2007 move from Lens to Stamford Bridge was illegal, and imposed a a 16-month transfer ban on Chelsea.
However, CAS temporarily lifted the ban on November 6.
Kakuta, then a Lens player, was only 15 years-old when he signed up with the English club.
Lens felt that Chelsea had used their wealth to “steal” a young player that they had nurtured, and had complained to FIFA.
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