The Blues were today banned from making any additions for a year after being found guilty of breaching Fifa rules over 29 youth players.
And the FA has also been hit with a massive fine for allowing Chelsea to breach Fifa international regulations.
The long-running Fifa investigation into the Stamford Bridge club’s recruitment policy ended with the Blues banned from making any signings for the next two transfer windows.
That would mean Chelsea cannot sign any more players until the summer of 2020, scrapping any prospect of a transfer overhaul at the end of this season.
However, Chelsea refute the claims and have launched an appeal which means they may be able to make wholesale changes this summer in a massive spending spree.
They would then be prevented from signing any more players until January 2021.
In a statement, Fifa confirmed: “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned the English club Chelsea FC and The Football Association for breaches relating to the international transfer and registration of players under the age of 18.
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“Chelsea was found to have breached art. 19 of the Regulations in the case of 29 minor players and to have committed several other infringements relating to registration requirements for players.
“The club also breached art. 18bis of the Regulations in connection with two agreements it concluded concerning minors and which allowed it to influence other clubs in transfer-related matters.
“The Disciplinary Committee sanctioned Chelsea with a ban on registering new players at both national and international level for the next two (2) complete and consecutive registration periods.
“This ban applies to the club as a whole – with the exception of the women’s and futsal teams – and does not prevent the release of players.”
Chelsea were also fined £460,000 and given 90 days “to regularise the situation of the minor players concerned”.
Fifa had looked at more than 100 deals in their probe.
Chelsea confirmed they had received the notice and signalled their intention to appeal.
A statement read: "Chelsea FC has today received a decision from the FIFA Disciplinary Committee concerning alleged breaches of the FIFA Regulations that relate to the international transfer of players under the age of 18.
"The decision imposes a transfer ban of two consecutive registration periods and a fine of 600k Swiss francs. Chelsea FC categorically refutes the findings of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee and will therefore be appealing the decision.
"The club wishes to emphasise that it respects the important work undertaken by FIFA in relation to the protection of minors and has fully cooperated with FIFA throughout its investigation. Initially, Chelsea FC was charged under Articles 19.1 and 19.3 in relation to 92 players. We welcome the fact that FIFA has accepted that there was no breach in relation to 63 of these players, but the club is extremely disappointed that FIFA has not accepted the club’s submissions in relation to the remaining 29 players.
"Chelsea FC acted in accordance with the relevant regulations and will shortly be submitting its appeal to FIFA."
The Stamford Bridge club argued the vast majority of the player cases involved short-term trialists at the Cobham academy who did not sign for the club.
But one of the key planks of Fifa’s case was the signing of Burkino Faso attacking midfielder Bertrand Traore, who officially joined the club in January 2014 but played in a number of youth team games when he was 16.
It was claimed that Chelsea paid £154,000 to the player’s mother and a further £13,000 to his former club in Burkina Faso.
Fifa are understood to believe the club paid his fees at Whitgift School in Croydon, where former Blues defender Colin Pates is head of football.
But Chelsea are not the only ones in the dog-house.
Fifa rules prevent players under 18 being transferred across national borders unless their parents have emigrated for non-footballing reasons, although the minimum age is 16 for players moving within the EU.
World football bosses are understood to be investigating the youth recruitment policies of at least four other Premier League clubs, with Zurich chiefs accusing the FA of lax administration and enforcement of the regulations.
The FA was also fined £391,000 after Fifa ruled the governing body had “breached the rules in connection with minors”.
And Wembley chiefs were ordered “to address the situation concerning the international transfer and first registration of minors in football” over the next six months.
Fifa added: “The protection of minors is a key element in FIFA’s overall regulatory framework relating to the transfer of players and effective enforcement of these rules is paramount, as also confirmed on various occasions by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”
Chelsea’s prospects of overturning the ban are limited even if they appeal to CAS, although they could get the sanction halved if they are successful.
The FA responded to the news with this statement: “The FA notes the decision of the Fifa Disciplinary Committee published today. The FA has cooperated fully with Fifa’s investigations, although we have raised some concerns with Fifa regarding its disciplinary processes.
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