FIFA UPHOLD TRANSFER BANS FOR REAL MADRID AND ATLETICO

Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have lost their appeals against one-year transfer bans by FIFA for breaking rules protecting underage players.

FIFA says its appeals committee dismissed challenges filed by both clubs after transfer embargoes were imposed in January.

The bans were later frozen pending the appeals verdicts.

FIFA said on Thursday that the Madrid clubs were blocked from registering new players in the next two transfer windows, until January 2018.

The clubs can make deals to sign players but cannot register them to play.

Real Madrid have already announced that they will appeal against FIFA's ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Atletico are expected to follow suit.

"The FIFA Appeal Committee has decided to reject the appeals lodged by Spanish clubs Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid and to confirm in their entirety the decisions rendered by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee in the respective cases relating to the protection of minors," FIFA said in a statement.

"As such, both clubs are to serve a transfer ban that prevents them from registering any players at national and international level for the next two complete and consecutive registration periods for breaching articles 5, 9, 19 and 19bis as well as annexes 2 and 3 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (the 'Regulations').

"The transfer ban applies to each club as a whole -- with the exception of the women's, futsal and beach soccer teams -- and does not prevent the release of players.

"Additionally, Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid have been fined CHF 900,000 and CHF 360,000 respectively, while both clubs have been issued with a reprimand and a warning and given 90 days in which to regularise the situation of all minor players concerned."