Real Madrid have issued a statement to deny any wrong doing over the signing of foreign players under the age of 18.
World governing body FIFA has launched an investigation into the club and are looking at the 51 players the club has signed or clubs who have collaborations with the 10-time Champions League winners.
But in a statement released by the Spanish giants, they insist they have played by the rules and protested their innocence.
Real Madrid defends the protection and the correct and healthy development of minors via its strict adherence, without exceptions, to the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, and is in complete agreement with such investigations being carried out to this end,” the statement read.
It continued: “Real Madrid have responded diligently, supplying all the information required by the Committee within the established deadlines and in complete documentary detail. Both Real Madrid and the RFEF, through which the informative investigation is being processed, have been left totally satisfied with the information supplied and have verified the strict adherence to the registration regulations in absolutely every case.”
Providing a breakdown of the players, Los Blancos revealed 23 of them were signed from other Spanish clubs and 10 had Spanish nationality. One player appeared twice on the list, while six were actually over the age of 18 when they signed. Two more players had received authorisation to put pen-to-paper on deals with the club while two more were signed prior to the new rules coming into force.
The news will worry Madridistas, as rivals Barcelona received a two-window transfer ban over signing foreign players under the age of 18. It was upheld after the Catalans appealed, effectively meaning they can’t sign anyone for 2015. Emlio Butragueno has said Real should be fine and won’t receive a punishment like that.
