Manchester City have avoided a transfer ban after FIFA found the Premier League club guilty of falling foul of regulations regarding the international transfer and registration of players under the age of 18.
Instead, football's governing body has fined the Abu Dhabi-owned side CHF 370,000 (£315,000/$380,000), which may come as a surprise to some after Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Chelsea were banned from signing new players as punishment for similar offences.
Chelsea are currently serving a transfer ban for breaching article 19 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players in the case of 29 minors, and the club was unable to sign players this summer as part of a one-year punishment.
Barcelona, meanwhile, served a ban in 2014 while Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid were also hit with punishments for the same offence.
City have no such complications to deal with, however, with a statement on FIFA's official website stating: “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned English club Manchester City FC for breaches relating to the international transfer and registration of players under the age of 18.
“Manchester City FC was found to have breached, amongst others, article 19 of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.
“The Disciplinary Committee took into account the fact that Manchester City FC accepted its responsibility and sanctioned the club with a fine of CHF 370,000.
“The protection of minors is a key element in FIFA’s overall regulatory framework relating to the transfer of players, and the effective enforcement of these rules is paramount, as has also been confirmed on various occasions by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“The decision issued by the Disciplinary Committee was notified today.
Manchester City had also vehemently denied reports that the club was facing a ban from the Champions League as the result of the investigation.
UEFA had launched a formal investigation in March 2019 following allegations made by Der Spiegel, which were in turn based on information obtained from whistleblower organisation Football Leaks.
The reigning Premier League champions, who have won the league each of the last two seasons with historic point hauls, opened their domestic campaign this past weekend with a 5-0 battering of West Ham.
Also Community Shield winners following a victory over Liverpool, Manchester City will face Tottenham on Saturday in their next Premier League match.