Chelsea will be able to sign players in the January transfer window after having their two-window transfer ban lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday morning. Chelsea had been dealt a two-window ban by FIFA in February which prohibited them from making new signings until the summer of 2020.

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Chelsea were found to have breached rules regarding the transfer of youth players on numerous counts by the world governing body but the club always protested their innocence.

CAS were referred the case in June and perused both the club's and FIFA's arguments before coming to the decision which serves as a huge boost to Frank Lampard.

The revised penalties imposed by CAS were a one-window transfer ban, which Chelsea already served in the summer, and their fine of 600,000 Swiss Francs (£462,000) being halved.

Explaining the decision, the adjudicatory body said: "The Sole Arbitrator found that Chelsea did violate Articles 19.1 (related to the international transfer of minors) and 19.3 (related to the first registration of minors) of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP), but for a significantly smaller number of players (about 1/3 of the violations found by FIFA).

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