Nantes transfer ban suspended

Newly-promoted French Ligue 1 side Nantes today said that they had received the green light to sign players after a Swiss court opted to suspend a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling that upheld a one-year transfer ban.

“CAS recognised Friday morning the suspended nature (of the ban). We will at least be able to recruit until June 28,” Nantes general manager Franck Kita told AFP.

On June 3, CAS upheld FIFA’s one-year transfer embargo imposed on Nantes, due to a dispute over the signing of Guinea’s Ismael Bangoura in January 2012.

Nantes were accused of having incited Bangoura to break his contract with Dubai’s Al Nasr prematurely, before signing for the French club in January 2012.

The club from northwestern France immediately appealed to the Swiss Federal Court but CAS did not decide right away whether or not the appeal would have a suspended effect, which is not automatically granted.

“Following a ruling handed down on June 13, the federal court has granted Nantes the benefit of a suspended effect to the appeal filed against the CAS decision on June 3, 2013,” the club confirmed in a statement.

“From now and until further notice, Nantes can therefore go ahead and register new players,” it added.