Barcelona banned from signing players until 2016

Barcelona will not be allowed to sign any players in 2015 after the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed an appeal against their transfer ban.

The Spanish club were hoping to overturn a two-window suspension that was handed out by FIFA in April, after they were found to have breached rules on signing youth players.

The CAS appeals panel has confirmed that it found no grounds to overturn the original ruling.

"The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeal filed by FC Barcelona against the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) regarding the decision issued by the FIFA appeals committee on 19 August 2014," a statement from CAS read.

"In such decision, the Spanish football club was sanctioned with a transfer ban for two periods, a fine of CHF 450,000 (£292,000) and a reprimand after it was found to have infringed the FIFA regulations with respect to the registration of a number of minor players."

The Catalan outfit are now unable to sign any new players until January 2016.