The world football governing body, FIFA, has placed a ban on Chelsea Football Club from signing players for the next two transfer windows.
The English club has also been slammed with a fine of £400,000.
It is understood that Chelsea are being punished having been found guilty by FIFA of breaching rules about signing minors.
FIFA also fined England FA £391,000 and Chelsea have been given 90 days to rectify the situation concerning the players signed.
As reported by Sky Sports News, these punishments are a result of a three-year FIFA investigation related to the signing of more than a dozen players by Chelsea.
One of the main contentious signings was that of Bertrand Traore in 2013. Chelsea also twice breached regulations relating to third-party influence, article 18bis, FIFA said.
Chelsea will be able to sell players, but not register any new signings.
“This ban applies to the club as a whole – with the exception of the women’s and futsal teams – and does not prevent the release of players,” FIFA said in a statement.
The transfer of Christian Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea should not be in danger as the player was registered in FIFA’s Transfer Matching System (TMS) in January, according to Sky Germany.
Previous instances of similar infractions involving other clubs have seen the clubs involved appeal against the penalties, delaying the implementation of a registration ban and allowing them to sign players.
Chelsea were given a transfer ban in 2009 after there was a complaint about the youth player Gael Kakuta joining illegally two years earlier.
Chelsea appealed that and had the ban reduced