Manchester City face possible transfer ban over Benjamín Garré deal | OneFootball

Manchester City are expected to find out this month if they will face sanctions for allegedly breaching rules over the signing of Benjamín Garré.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) held a hearing last July where Argentine club Vélez Sarsfield claimed City ‘acted unethically’ by approaching Garré when he was still 15.

Fifa upheld City’s argument that Garré was free to join them after his 16th birthday because he holds an Italian passport but, Vélez believe that official rules only allow players under 18 to move between clubs in Europe.

“Man City argued that there is an exception in the rules because he has a European passport,” Bernardo Bertelloni, Vélez club secretary, said last year.

“But the Fifa rule does not say that, it says he can move only within the EU, between EU clubs.”

He also alleged Txiki Begiristain, City’s director of football, wrote to Vélez in June 2016 explaining that the player and his family had taken the decision to join City – two weeks before his 16th birthday.

City face the prospect of being banned from registering players for the next two transfer windows if CAS rule in Velez’s favour, although Pep Guardiola’s side believe they have acted accordingly.

Last year, City were banned by the Premier League from signing academy players for two years after it emerged they had made illegal approaches for youth players registered with other clubs.

Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have all been subjected to transfer bans in the recent past after being found guilty of breaching rules around the signing of international players under the age of 18.