Cardiff City hit with transfer embargo ahead of…

Cardiff City hit with transfer embargo ahead of January window but are locked in talks to resolve issue

Cardiff City have been placed under a transfer embargo in a significant blow which means they now cannot sign players in the January window.

However the club say they are locked in talks with various parties in a bid to resolve the issue and are 'confident' the matter can be sorted.

The transfer ban comes after the Court of Arbitration for Sport in August dismissed Cardiff's appeal over paying Nantes FC the first instalment of the Emiliano Sala transfer fee, equating to £5.1million plus interest, after it was determined that the player's transfer from Nantes had been completed before his tragic death in January 2019.

Cardiff continue to dispute the money owed and have appealed against the CAS hearing to the Swiss Federal Court. A judgment from that higher court is expected by the end of January, or in early February.

In the meantime, the Bluebirds have been hit with the transfer embargo, which is due to last three windows. Cardiff's hierarchy have met manager Mark Hudson to discuss the matter and he is fully aware of the situation.

The club say they are in talks with various parties, including FIFA and the Football League, as they seek to navigate a way around the problem.

Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman said: "It's a technical embargo, there are lots of legal discussions going on and those will continue to take place.

"We are pretty confident of being able to negotiate our way through this. It's irrelevant anyway until January 1, when the transfer window opens, and we are working hard to find an amicable resolution by then. We are working hard to resolve this in the interest of the club."

Asked if he was worried about not being able to buy new players in January, Dalman said: "We would like to bring in a few additions, but my conversations with Mark Hudson is to carry on planning as normal. We are hoping this is a temporary embargo, not permanent. But the manager believes there is enough quality in the team anyway to compete at this level."

When CAS announced its ruling, Cardiff immediately issued a statement to say they would once again be appealing the decision. The club then stated if the appeal is unsuccessful, then it would "take legal action against those responsible for the crash for damages to recover its losses. This will include FC Nantes, and its agents."

Last week Cardiff signalled its intention to sue insurance company Miller Insurances LLP for £10m, claiming they failed to properly communicate the process for immediately insuring new players. They said Miller Insurance failed to act with reasonable skill and care and that it was the broker's responsibility to inform the club they would not be insured for a new player's death until its policy was amended to cover the new signing.

The club say they would have requested £20m of coverage for Sala before he boarded the plane if they had been informed of the risks tethered to such tragic events should they take place.

The potential threat of an embargo also helped to inform the club's transfer policy in the summer, we understand. Cardiff opted to sign so many permanent players partly because it was needed in order to overhaul the playing style, but also because they sensed they might be placed under an embargo at some point in the future.

That is part of the reason why they signed so many players on longer-term contracts than normal, amid an uncertain financial backdrop. Indeed, Callum Robinson, Callum O'Dowda, Andy Rinomhota, Mahlon Romeo, Kion Etete, Vontae Campbell and Ebou Adams were all signed on three-year deals to take them through to 2025.

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