Real Madrid denies transfer ban reports: 'That information is completely false'

Lies. All lies.

Real Madrid has reacted swiftly to reports that they are in danger of being hit with a transfer ban for irregularities related to their signings of youth players, calling said reports "completely false," noting that they have been entirely scrupulous with their transfer dealings.

Spanish radio program El Larguero claimed Tuesday that Real, along with city rivals Atletico, were on the verge of heavy sanctions for committing similar offences to those that resulted in Barcelona being banned last year from signing any new players until 2016 - a ruling that was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after appeal.

As outlined by ESPN FC, FIFA rules stipulate that international youth players can only move overseas when at least one of three criteria is met:

the player's parents have moved country for their own non-related reasons; the move takes place within the European Union if a player is aged between 16 and 18; or the player's home is less than 50 kilometres from the national border being crossed.

Barcelona incurred the hefty ban after a number of their deals were discovered to have fallen short of those stipulations, and Tuesday's report claims the two Madrid clubs have been guilty of similar infractions.

Real Madrid, for their part, were never going to sit idly by. The club issued a rapid, lengthy response in an effort to discredit rumours of any wrongdoing.

"That said information is completely false, as demonstrated by the fact that the Spanish Football Federation has spoken to different media outlets to refute the claims that Real Madrid is implicated in any kind of irregular activity when it comes to signing minors. 

"Real Madrid reiterates that the club has always scrupulously adhered to the FIFA regulations, as was explained in detail in the official announcement dated 26 January 2015," the club noted, in reference to a statement released earlier this year when they admitted to openly working with the governing body to show that nothing questionable had occurred in their transfer dealings.

The statement continued:

"Real Madrid is once again saddened by these reports, some of which are intended to cause harm, the only aim of which are to implicate the club in supposed infractions that have not been committed.

"At the same time, it is surprising that certain media outlets insist on connecting the latest signings with a hypothetical sanction, as there is no relationship between the signing of players and their subsequent inscription, which is what FIFA prohibits."