After initially receiving a ban from making signings fortwo transfer windows, Real Madrid have been given a reduced sanction by the Court of Arbitration for Sport(CAS), meaning Florentino Perez will now be able to make new signings in the summer of 2017.
The reduced ruling angeredBarcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, whowas left feeling put outby the ruling, bemoaninga lack oftransparency and consistency inthe rules.
In 2015,Barça were banned for two fullwindows, after having their appealsrejected, formisgivings in the capture of foreign players under the age of 18 - the same offence for whichReal Madrid have now been punished.
Bartomeu was left confused as to why the outcome of Real's final appeal to CAS has been so different, when the two clubs'cases were similar.
"Barcelona and Real Madrid had the same lawyers, so I demand an explanation. I don't know Real or Atletico Madrid's cases in detail but I have no problem in consulting our lawyers since they were similar cases," Bartomeu is quoted as saying by Marca.
However, Spanishjournalist Ruben Martin ofCOPEhas revealedthe intricate differences in the rulings -namely the severity level of the cases in question.
According to Martin, who wrote on Twitter,Real Madrid had 39 cases under investigation, of which nine were considered 'serious' in violating CAS's Article 19 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.
El Real Madrid habrÃa conseguido rebajar de 9 a 1 los expedientes que vulneran el artÃculo 19.1 y 19.3. Por eso, el TAS rebaja la sanción.
El FCB tenÃa 31 expedientes de menores. 6 de ellos graves (art. 19.1 y 19.3). No demostró al TAS que la FIFA se habÃa equivocado en ninguno.
Los Blancoswere, however,ableto demonstrate to CAS that it had beenFIFA and not the clubthat had erred in eight of the nine serious cases, leaving only one serious case on theirrecord.
However, ofBarcelona's initial 31 open files, six were deemedserious, with, crucially,the Catalans unable to prove fault on anyone else's part.
Real's neighbours Atletico Madridwere also found guilty by of similar offences and, following their ownappeal, are awaiting the outcome with AS reporting the club could also see their sentence reduced to a single transfer window.