Leicester City’s new multi-million pound signing Adrien Silva will not be able to play until January after Fifa rejected the club’s registration application.
The BBC reports that after the midfielder signed from Sporting Lisbon on transfer deadline day, parts of the deal were not finalised in time with Fifa. The Premier League club missed the deadline by 14 seconds.
The Foxes will appeal against Fifa’s decision. A Leicester spokesman said: “We are working with Adrien and Sporting Clube de Portugal to overcome some issues relating to the player’s registration and exploring all options to find a resolution.”
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Now Silva is a Leicester player, the Premier League club will have to pay his wages even though they can’t register him again until January.
Sporting President Bruno de Carvalho said: “The transfer of Adrien is already completed. Hopefully Leicester [will] find a solution for him.”
Sky Sports News reports that Leicester were confident that the papers were filed before the midnight deadline after Fifa granted a one-hour extension because it was an international transfer.
But according to the Transfer Matching System that links clubs with the FA and Fifa, the documents were filed late.
Fifa said: “We can confirm that Fifa has been contacted by The Football Association in connection with the registration of the player Adrien Silva and the club Leicester City. Fifa has replied accordingly providing reference to applicable regulations.”