Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have been found guilty of irregularities

Real Madrid and Atletico were punished for breaching rules registering youngsters, and have been prevented from signing players in the next two transfer windows.

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone insists he won’t waste any energy on the one-year transfer ban handed to the club by Federation Internationale de Football Association in midweek until all appeal routes have been exhausted. In addition to the transfer sanctions Atletico has been fined 900,000 Swiss Francs and Real Madrid 360,000 Swiss Francs.

The most likely outcome, in our opinion, will be an appeal that stalls the ban until the summer and allows both Madrid sides to come up with a summer transfer game-plan.

Another Spanish club, FC Barcelona, has just finished serving such ban this January.

Both clubs have until the end of the month to register new players before the ban takes effect.

The news is the latest off-field blow for Real having sacked two Champions League winning coaches in Carlo Ancelotti and Rafael Benitez in the past seven months, as well as being thrown out of the Copa del Rey for fielding an ineligible player.

A statement from the FIFA Media Office said the registration related to players under the age of 18.

“This is done through the enforcement of regulations prohibiting the global transfer of minors, or the first registration of minors in a country other than their own, except in specific circumstances (cf. art. 19 of the Regulations) that must be approved by the sub-committee appointed by the Players’ Status Committee”.

“They have 20 days to sign players if they really think they can not delay the bans, but I don’t think they will do that with the biggest names”, Balague explained on Sky Sports.

These rules involve the worldwide transfers of players under the age of 18. Barcelona served a similar ban in 2015 for the same reasons.

The two clubs have confirmed their intention to appeal and Sanchez said: “The sanction is so absurd and leads to such erroneous statements, such as the sanction for the children of Zidane or the brother of [Ezequiel] Garay”. But Barca were not able to register Turan and Vidal as players until January 2016 and the duo recently made their debuts for the club.

Real’s coach also said that Varane “will start tomorrow“.