Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 7y

Diego Simeone unsure over Atletico Madrid's transfer ban appeal to CAS

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has said he still does not know whether the club will have a FIFA transfer ban lifted and be free to sign new players this summer, after a six-hour hearing took place at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday.

An Atletico party including director Clemente Villaverde, academy chief Emilio Gutierrez and German lawyer Christian Keidel were in Switzerland on Monday to present their case to the three-man CAS tribunal -- in the hope of following rivals Real Madrid in having their 12-month transfer ban for breaking youth regulations imposed last year halved and being able to register players from July 1.

The Vicente Calderon outfit did not comment officially on the hearing, and Simeone told a news conference ahead of Tuesday's La Liga clash at home to Villarreal that he had no new information on how the tribunal might rule.

"We have no information, so I will give no opinion without being sure of what might happen," the former Argentina international said.

In January 2016, Atletico and neighbours Real Madrid were banned from all transfers during the summer 2016 and winter 2017 windows after FIFA found they had on many occasions broken the laws regarding the international transfers of players aged under-16.

Legal expert Keidel, of Munich-based Martens Rechtsanwalte, has said that his arguments in front of the court will use the same premise that was successful as Madrid saw their punishment halved. This was that the Spanish FA was partly to blame for not explaining adequately to FIFA that the youngsters involved were actually exempt from the rules.

The CAS decision will potentially have an effect on the uncertain futures of leading Atletico figures including Manchester United target Antoine Griezmann.

Simeone's own future has also again been an object of speculation recently, with La Gazzetta dello Sport claiming that Inter Milan's Chinese owners are willing to offer him a lucrative five-year contract worth €11 million season, but that he must decide within three weeks whether to accept the terms.

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