Madrid giants face European bans over signing of juniors

Spanish giants Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid could be banned from registering new players for a year for irregularities in signing minors, Spanish media reported.

Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are in trouble over the signing on juniors (AAP) Source: AP

Barcelona is currently banned from registering players after it was handed the same ban for similar reasons a year ago.

The Catalan giant unsuccessfully appealed that ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport however the appeal did delay the application of the ban until January which allowed it to sign seven players, including Luis Suarez last summer.

The same route of appeal would be open to Real and Atletico, last season's UEFA Champions League finalists.

"We are not in a position to comment on any proceedings that are ongoing. No further information can be provided for the time-being," said a FIFA spokesperson.

Real Madrid confirmed in January that FIFA had asked for information pertaining to 51 players in the youth system.

Spanish radio said Madrid's unusually busy January transfer window had been carried out with one eye on a possible ban.

The European champion signed Norwegian prodigy Martin Odegaard, 19-year-old Marco Asensio from Mallorca and Brazilian under-21 international Lucas Silva in January.

Moreover, the club has announced that Porto right-back Danilo will join Madrid in the summer for a fee of 31.5 million euros ($43.12 million).

Official response is yet to come from the Vicente Calderon but Real Madrid chiefs do not expect any punishment to land on their doorstep.

Under FIFA rules the signing of foreign players under the age of 18 is not permitted apart from in three exceptions.

Firstly, that the parents of the player relocate to the country for non-football reasons, that the player is aged between 16 and 18 and the transfer takes place within the European Union or European Economic Area, or that the player lives no further than 100 kilometres from the club's headquarters.