(Reuters) – Cologne will file an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against a transfer ban imposed by world governing body FIFA for an alleged breach of transfer rules in the case of the signing of an under-19 player, the Bundesliga side said.
Cologne added in a statement that the one-year ban was part of sanctions issued over the signing of forward Jaka Cuber Potocnik from Slovenian side Olimpija Ljubljana in January 2022.
“Potocnik … opted to cancel his contract at Olimpija Ljubljana following multiple breaches of contract by the club,” Cologne alleged in a statement on Wednesday.
“The Slovenian top tier side then accused the striker of illegally breaching his contract and sued both him and Cologne at FIFA for damages. Potocnik’s former club accused Cologne of inciting the player to breach his contract.
“… the FIFA Football Tribunal ruled that Potocnik had terminated his contract with Olimpija Ljubljana without legal grounds.”
Olimpija Ljubljana were not immediately available to comment.
Cologne said that FIFA ordered them and the player to pay 51,750 euros ($56,293.65) in damages to Olimpija Ljubljana, and that Potocnik had been suspended for four months.
“Cologne will be banned from registering new players (nationally or internationally) in the next two transfer windows,” the club added.
“Cologne will appeal against this ruling at CAS. In addition, it has been requested that the punishment be temporarily suspended until the final verdict is reached.”
Cologne are 13th in the Bundesliga standings with 27 points from 25 games. They host 10th-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday.
($1 = 0.9193 euros)
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
