Football news - Chelsea cleared to spend in January as transfer ban is halved

The punishment was initially handed down by FIFA after the west Londoners were found to have breached regulations with regards to the international transfer and registration of players under 18.

FIFA said the club had also breached an article in connection with agreements it concluded concerning minors and which allowed it to influence other clubs in transfer matters.

The Premier League club took their case to CAS in June after FIFA's Appeal Committee rejected an initial appeal.

CAS said the breach involved "a significantly smaller number of players".

The first window of the transfer ban has already passed over the course of the summer and manager Frank Lampard has since been relying on the club's academy.

However, the CAS, while acknowledging that they were in breach of two key transfer regulations, have reduced the severity of the sanctions.

"(Chelsea) is banned from registering any new players, either nationally or internationally, for one entire registration period, which the club already served during the 2019 summer registration period," a statement read.

The CAS ruling also saw the club’s fine reduced from 600,000 to 300,000 Swiss francs (£230,000).

While Lampard has used youngsters such as Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham to supplement areas of his squad in need of reinforcement, the Blues have been heavily linked with the likes of Jadon Sancho and Ben Chilwell in January.