Barcelona Transfer News: Arda Turan Appeal Would Be Supported by Sports Council

Barcelona have received some positive news in their bid to register Arda Turan as a player before January after it emerged the Spanish Sports Council (CSD) has thrown its support behind their potential appeal.

The club's transfer embargo prevents them from registering any new players until January 1. However, a report from Spanish newspaper AS quoted secretary of state for sport Miguel Cardenal, who claimed CSD would back Barca's bid to strengthen their ranks early (h/t Football Espana):

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This is a FIFA punishment which neither the Spanish government nor the CSD have been part of and I don’t know the details. But recently we have seen signs with the sale of TV rights that we defend the Spanish legal system and the application of Spanish legislation.

In this hypothesis, we would favour the interests of Barcelona and if that is what happened we would not hesitate to give our support.

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The report explains that CSD may have the authority to register players without authorisation from the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) or FIFA, world football's governing body.

It's alleged Barcelona believe that, if successful, their appeal with LFP—the Spanish league administrators—would be passed on to the RFEF and in turn come to the doorstep of CSD, Cardenal's department, allowing them to bypass any FIFA sanction.

Riccardo De Luca/Associated Press

Cardenal's comments seem to suggest his authority would be willing to overlook FIFA's ruling if Barcelona sought to bring Turan into the squad as cover for their recent injuries.

Barcelona manager Luis Enrique has proclaimed the Turkey international is ready to play should he be sanctioned to do so, per Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC:

The Blaugrana were recently saddened to hear a knee injury would keep Lionel Messi sidelined until mid-October, with that news coming barely a week after youngster Rafinha tore his anterior cruciate ligament, ruling him out for around six months.

Midfielder Andres Iniesta was also injured in Tuesday's Champions League win over Bayer Leverkusen, further limiting the club's creative resources and placing more pressure on Enrique for the coming weeks.

Spain's football powers would have a lot to gain from Turan's early arrival as the former Atletico Madrid star would undoubtedly boost Barca's powers and go a long way to restoring their international appeal.

Spanish football writer Sergi Dominguez cited news from Spanish daily Sport (via Barcastuff) claiming FIFA would not allow the Spanish authorities to register Turan, hinting at suspicions of favouritism toward Barca:

BBC Sport reported last December that Barcelona's appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had been unsuccessful, with the embargo placed in relation to their registration of players under the age of 18.

Last season's treble winners are swiftly discovering the repercussions that come as a result of their teetering outside football's law, but that would appear to be the intended effect of those rules being made in the first place.