Ancelotti in no rush after Chelsea ban suspended

Published on Friday 6 November 2009 22:59

CARLO Ancelotti insists he will not be rushed into buying new players in January even though the Court of Arbitration for Sport has suspended their transfer ban.

CAS yesterday agreed to suspend their Fifa-imposed transfer ban until a final decision is made in relation to their appeal. Fifa banned the Blues from any transfer activity until 2011 after they were found guilty of inducing teenage Gael Kakuta to breach his contract with French club Lens.

Chelsea appealed to CAS against the punishment and also requested the ban be suspended until their case had been dealt with in full. That is now likely to take place well into the new year. The Blues will lose Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and John Mikel Obi to the African Nations Cup in January, but Ancelotti remains confident they can cope without them.

"Now, thanks to this decision we have time to look for new players," said Ancelotti. "At the moment, I'm very happy with the squad, these players, and it's not necessary at the moment to take new players.

"I know we will lose four in January, but if we maintain the players' fitness we can do a good period also without the African players. Now our focus is on the game on Sunday."

A statement from CAS today read: "The Court of Arbitration for Sport has granted the request for a stay filed by Chelsea Football Club Ltd and Mr Gael Kakuta in relation to the decision taken by the Fifa Dispute Resolution Chamber on 27 August 2009."