Real Madrid are being investigated by FIFA for their transfer dealings and if the club is found guilty of wrongdoing, they could be subjected to a complete ban on signing new players.
Spanish newspaper AS has claimed to have seen documents that indicate FIFA are preparing to investigate the Spanish giants for signing underage players. There are regulations that prevent clubs from signing players under the age of 18, unless their parent club makes the readily available for transfer.
Article 14 of FIFA's transfer handbook states that clubs can only sign players under the age of 18 from outside the EU if the player's parents have had to move to the country where the buying club is based for non-football reasons.
The signings that are believed to be under investigation are that of two 12-year-olds from Venezuela – Manuel Godoy and Fernando Macias – who joined the club in 2012.
Barcelona are unable to sign any players until 2016 after being found guilty of a similar offence.
Barca were slapped with a 14-month ban in April 2014 but still managed to sign Luis Suarez that summer after appealing the verdict.
Don't bet against Real Madrid finding a way out of this, too.
[via Daily Mirror]
