Chelsea will learn the result
of their appeal against FIFA's transfer ban well before
Christmas.
That could open the way for manager Carlo
Ancelotti to buy in the January transfer window.
The Blues are banned by FIFA from signing players until January
2011 for inducing French starlet Gael
Kakuta to breach his contract with Lens in 2007.
But Chelsea will tomorrow
confirm their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
A club spokesman said: "A senior member of CAS indicated the
case could be fast-tracked with the intention of getting this
resolved by December."
Privately, the Blues are resigned to serving some sort of ban -
but are confident they can get it reduced, says The
Sun.