............“The protection of minors,” Fifa wrote in a statement issued today regarding Chelsea’s apparently repeated and flagrant flaunting of regulations concerning the international transfer and registration of players under the age of 18, “is a key element in Fifa’s regulatory framework relating to the transfer of players and effective enforcement of these rules is paramount.”
Chelsea, it appears
, breached these rules not in one case, not in two cases, not in three cases, not in four cases, not in five cases, not in six cases, not in seven cases, not in eight cases, not in nine cases, not in 10 cases, not in 11 cases [skip to the end – Fiver Ed]
but in 29 cases. Not only that, they also “committed several other infringements” which Fifa did not feel inclined to go into. This kind of shameless approach to wanton regulation-breaching, particularly in such a “paramount” corner of the Fifa regulatory framework, clearly merited swift and savage punishment, and on this occasion, as on so many others, football’s global governing body has not let us down. Today they delivered their bombshell verdict, sentencing Chelsea to a short period of mild inconvenience.......