Real Madrid transfer ban reduced by CAS

LAUSANNE: Real Madrid can buy new players in next summer’s transfer window after sport’s highest court on Tuesday halved their initial two-window ban imposed by Fifa. The European champions had been sanctioned by world football’s ruling body for irregularities in the signing of foreign under-18 players. But after an appeal the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) partially overturned the Fifa sentence, with Real still banned from recruiting in the upcoming January window. CAS also cut the fine imposed by Fifa on the club from 360,000 Swiss francs ($350,000) to 240,000. Real welcomed the verdict but rued that the Spanish giants weren’t fully exonerated.