Saudi Arabia club, Al-Nassr, has been slapped with a ban by FIFA, which prohibits them from registering new players.
Al-Nassr, a prominent Saudi Arabian team with nine league titles to their name, garnered attention last season when they secured the services of former Manchester United forward, Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo's high-profile move to the Gulf state has attracted other notable stars to the region.
Continuing their summer spending spree, Al-Nassr recently acquired Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic from Inter Milan. Rumors have also circulated linking Italian international Domenico Berardi and Chelsea's Hakim Ziyech to the club.
However, their ambitious moves have come at a price, as FIFA has imposed a ban on Al-Nassr's ability to register new players.
According to The Sun, this ban is a consequence of the club's failure to fulfill payment obligations to Championship side Leicester City, specifically related to the transfer of Nigerian forward Ahmed Musa.
Musa joined Leicester immediately after their historic title win in 2016 but struggled to leave a significant impact in England, managing only five goals in 33 appearances. Subsequently, he was loaned back to his former club, CSKA Moscow, before being sold to Al-Nassr for a reported fee of £14 million in 2018.
During his tenure at Al-Nassr, Musa participated in 60 games and secured a league title. However, he was released as a free agent two years later. FIFA's ruling states that Al-Nassr has failed to pay €460,000 (£390,000) plus interest in performance-related add-ons owed to Leicester City.
The initial ruling was issued in October 2021, with Al-Nassr being warned that a transfer registration ban would be imposed unless the outstanding amount was settled. It seems that the club has not complied with the ruling, leading to the enforcement of the registration ban. This ban applies to both domestic and international transfers, meaning Al-Nassr is currently unable to register players from abroad.
FIFA's original ruling specified that the ban would cover three consecutive transfer windows. Al-Nassr has also been cautioned that if Leicester City remains unpaid by the end of the ban, the matter will be referred to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.
Al-Nassr has since acknowledged that the issue arose before the club's acquisition by the Public Investment Fund (PIF). They have assured that such issues will not reoccur under the new club structure and have pledged to promptly settle the payment owed to Leicester for Musa's transfer in order to have the ban lifted.