Barcelona transfer ban: Fifa bans Barcelona from signing new players until 2016

Barcelona will be barred from signing players until January 2016 after Fifa rejected an appeal against their transfer ban, imposed in relation "to the protection of minors".

The news that they are banned from the next two transfer windows will be a massive blow for the Spanish club as they look to compete against domestic rivals Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid and on the European stage.

Fifa imposed a 14-month ban on Barcelona in April this year after the club were found to have breached rules on the signing of international players under the age of 18.

However, the ban was suspended pending the appeal.

During that time, the three-time European Cup winners managed to bring Luis Suarez in from Liverpool for a fee in the region of £75m. They have also signed Claudio Bravo from Sociedad for £9.5m, Jeremy Mathieu from Valencia for £15.8m and Thomas Vermaelen from Arsenal for £15m.

Despite having made an outlay in the region of £115m this summer following their failure to land a single trophy last term, the Catalan club may be keen to do more business in the final few days of the current transfer window before the ban comes into action.

A statement from Fifa today read: "The Fifa appeal committee has decided to reject the appeals lodged by Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Real Federacion Espanola de Futbol (RFEF) and to confirm in their entirety the decisions rendered by the Fifa disciplinary committee in the respective cases relating to the protection of minors."

Barcelona have confirmed they will take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Spanish club are free to continue signing players during the current window whilst CAS looks into the case.

Fifa's statement added: "Barcelona is to serve a transfer ban which will see the club prevented from registering any players at both national and international level for two complete and consecutive transfer periods, starting with the next registration period (January 2015) given that the appeal of the club had been granted suspensive effect by the chairman of the FIFA appeal committee.

"FC Barcelona has also been ordered to pay a fine of CHF 450,000 (£295,000) and been given a period of 90 days from today in which to regularise the situation of all minor players concerned."

Barcelona were found guilty of breaching Fifa's rules on the transfer of players aged under 18.

The players in question were registered and participated in competitions with the Catalan club between 2009 and 2013, while the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) was also sanctioned by Fifa for the same breaches.

The RFEF also saw its appeal turned down on Wednesday and has been fined.

Fifa's statement added: "The RFEF has been ordered to pay a fine of CHF 500,000 (£330,000) and granted a period of one year in which to regularise their regulatory framework and existing system concerning the international transfer of minors in football."