Are Barcelona and Manchester City Breaking the Same Rule as Chelsea?

"Any person subject to the FIFA Statutes and regulations (club officials, players' agents, players, etc.) who acts in a manner designed to induce a breach of contract between a professional and a club in order to facilitate the transfer of the player shall be sanctioned."

So read the FIFA statement which accompanied the announcement that Chelsea FC are prohibited from registering any new players until January 2011.

The London club owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich stand accused of "inducing" French youngster Gael Kakuta to break his contract with Lens and sign for Chelsea in 2007.

This is not a first for FIFA with Roma given a similar, but shorter ban for their courting of Phillipe Mexes in 2004.

Swiss club FC Sion are currently fighting their case after they were found guilty of the same charge when signing Essam El Hadary from Al-Ahly before his contract had expired.

FIFA's stance in cutting out what in effect is "tapping up" is commendable, but are they picking and choosing who they punish, or must the clubs who lose the players fight a long battle to bring it to their attention?

My take on the Kakuta deal is that Lens had a player that they did not want to lose, but a player Chelsea badly wanted.

Chelsea flashed the cash, promised a teenager the world, and finally got their man, despite his current club not willing to sell.

On that premise, and in the very words of FIFA, haven't Manchester City and Barcelona done the exact same thing?

Over the summer, Manchester City signed some big names in the form of Gareth Barry, Kolo Toure, Roque Santa Cruz, and Emmanuel Adebayor. 

These signings are all fine, as these players wanted to leave their respective clubs and their current employers were happy to take the large sums of cash offered.

However, the problem arises in the Joleon Lescott deal.

Everton clearly did not want to sell one of their prized assets. David Moyes clearly did not want to lose one of his defensive stalwarts. Alas Lescott is now at Manchester City.

Moyes reacted furiously to City's constant approaches for Lescott, until, as Everton claimed, "The player's head was turned."

Evidently, it was the large wages and promises of challenging for titles that made Lescott want to join City so dearly and Everton got a good deal for their man.

In essence, have Manchester City done what Chelsea stands for doing?

Lescott left Everton against their wishes (although I am sure they readily accepted the hefty fee), before his contract had ended. Can this be viewed as "inducing" to breach a contract?

Despite the transfer window being shut, we see the exact same thing happening with Barcelona's pursuit of Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas.

Fabregas has declared his wish to stay at Arsenal, although, he hopes to return to Spain one day. At only 22, he has plenty time to accomplish this.

Furthermore, Arsene Wenger certainly does not want to lose the focal point of his young team and the fans; the board doesn't want to see "Fab4" head for the exit either.

However, Barcelona's pursuit of the Spanish international is relentless.

President Joan Laporta describes Fabregas as a "special case" while players Lionel Messi, Carlos Puyol, and Gerard Pique have spoken of their wish to see Fabregas in a Barcelona shirt "sooner rather than later."

Every week the Spanish triple winners are making it public how much they "love" Fabregas.

Again, is this not breaking FIFA rules?

Is Barcelona trying to "induce" a player to break his current contract?

Am I way off the mark, or have Manchester City and Barcelona broken the same rule that saw Chelsea punished so severely?