The international Court for Arbitration of Sport (CAS) issued a ruling upholding the transfer ban placed open relegation-threatened Bundesliga side 1. FC Köln on Thursday afternoon.
After an appeal allowed Köln to continue conducting transfer business this past summer, Germany’s cathedral city side must now contend with two full seasons in which they cannot add additional players.
“We are very disappointed with the ruling,” FC managing director Christian Keller noted in a statement released by the Domstädter, “At least we now have clarity and the long months of limbo are over with. We have always said that we’d take the transfer ban into our squad planning accordingly. In every challenge, there lies an opportunity. It’s with this attitude that we’ll look ahead and attempt to tackle this challenge.”
