Serie A club Spezia were on Friday handed a two-year transfer ban for breaching FIFA rules by bringing underage Nigerian players to Italy.
The US-owned outfit will not be allowed to sign new players for four transfer windows starting from next January 2022, along with two northern amateur sides.
FIFA said Spezia brought “several Nigerian minors into Italy using a scheme aimed at circumventing RSTP (FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players) regulation as well as national immigration law”.
They must also pay a fine of 500,000 Swiss francs ($544,000, 460,000 euro), world football’s governing body said.