The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected Barcelona's appeal to sign players until 2016.

In April of 2014 Barcelona was handed a 14-month transfer ban for signing players under 18. Because Barcelona waited on numerous appeals and chose to sign Luis Suarez from Liverpool, they cannot sign a single player until 2016.

Barcelona can still release players, but they can't make transfers or sign any players over the next two transfer windows.

This comes at a terrible time for Barcelona because they are right in the mix of the La Liga standings with their rivals, Real Madrid. Barcelona is 12-2-2 this season with 38 points, just one point behind Real Madrid for first place.

Barcelona issued a statement on their website saying:

"With all respect for the sports authorities, the Club has expressed its utter nonconformity with the resolution. The club defended its La Masia academy, which has produced footballers such as Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta, saying it has been “an example around the world for the way its young footballers are schooled and educated, and the work that is done on their development. FC Barcelona’s youth structure has enabled hundreds of young players to achieve their dreams and receive a decent upbringing.”

Barcelona even went on to post:

“FC Barcelona wishes to state, with all due respect for the sports authorities, that it totally disagrees with the verdict of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced today to confirm the sanction originally imposed by FIFA, as a consequence of the alleged breach of regulations on the international transfer of minor footballers."

Barcelona "totally disagrees" with the courts decisions, but rules are rules. Barcelona went on to explain how this was a much larger issue between FIFA and the Spanish legislation. This has many American college football fans comparing La Liga to the NCAAF. We've seen multiple times in the past where Division 1 athletic programs recruit the best athletes and win with them, but only to get in trouble in the future because they were ineligible.

Barcelona can still renew contracts of players on their roster.

This could be a huge wake-up call for other teams in the Spanish League. Even as big of a club and money maker as Barcelona is, CAS still brought the hammer down on them.

Over the last five years, Barcelona has garnered a bit of an unfavorable reputation in the soccer world. The team has been accused of faking injuries and "flopping" to get penalties and free kicks from referees. Signing Luis Suarez, who has bitten three players during a game, didn't help public perception either.

Barcelona has a tough road ahead of them with these penalties staying in place, but with Neymar and Messi still on the roster, anything is possible.

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