A Premier League club has now officially been hit with a ban.
The English top flight has confirmed that it has agreed upon a sanction with Fulham FC after the side breached regulations related to player registrations.
"The Club will face a six-month ban (suspended for one year) from registering any Academy players currently or previously registered with another club and will pay a £75 000 fine," the EPL said in a statement.
"The suspended registrations ban commenced on 15 April 2024."
It is understood the London-based club's punishment comes after settlement payments they accepted for former player and youth product Fabio Carvalho, when he left to join Liverpool in July 2022, were concluded to be rule breaches.
According to the official sanction agreement, the issue stems back to the club he played for, Balham Blazers FC (BBFC), before joining the Cottagers as an academy player in 2014.
In October the following year, the London club, which was part of the English Football League (EFL) at the time, entered into a "heads of terms" agreement with BBFC, but it had not been provided to the FA, the EFL or the EPL.
The Portuguese went on to become a contracted player for Fulham in May 2020, making his debut in an EPL match against Southampton in the 2020/2021 campaign that saw the club sink to the English football's second tier.
Following discussions between Fulham and BBFC, the Cottagers provided the heads of terms to the EFL (as the Club had been relegated) and the FA, seeking guidance on how to proceed.
Under the organisation's recommendations, the two clubs entered into a compensation agreement for Carvalho, which entitled BBFC to a fee that was paid, via the FA's Clearing House, in October 2021.
In March 2022, Fulham then struck an agreement with Liverpool in a move that would see Anfield become the midfielder's new home.
That move triggered a request from for payment by BBFC.
However, the side "is not a Transferor Club", therefore regulations prohibit them from receiving payment of any sums.
Amid the 21-year-old's move to the Reds, the Cottagers sought approval to make payments, but this was rejected. A payment of an undisclosed amount was still made, though, and this is considered to have been a breach of regulations.
Carvalho, meanwhile, has sruggled to make his mark at the Merseyside club, and has spent the season out on loan at Championship club Hull City, scoring nine goals and providing two assists.
