Atletico awaits CAS verdict on transfer ban

Lausanne - Atletico Madrid is waiting to find out if it will be allowed to sign new players in June after pleading its case over a FIFA-imposed transfer ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday.

"Only the lawyers are present and no decision will be made today (Monday)," CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb told AFP, without providing a timeframe for the verdict.

Atletico and city rivals Real Madrid were barred from registering new players for two transfer windows in January 2016 for irregularities in the signing of foreign players under 18.

Both clubs saw initial appeals rejected by FIFA last September, although CAS reduced Real's sanction in December allowing the European champions to recruit new players as of this summer.

While Atletico and Real were prevented from making any signings in the January transfer window, Atletico president Enrique Cerezo is hopeful sport's highest court will grant his club a similar ruling and halve its initial two-window ban.

"We hope they lift (the ban) and we can sign this summer," Cerezo said in February.

"We had the same problem as Real Madrid. If they have lifted it from them, why wouldn't they lift it from us?"