Liverpool handed £100,000 fine and given two-year ban on signing academy players
Liverpool have been given a £100,000 fine and banned from registering academy players after being found guilty of 'tapping up' a young player at Stoke City.
The club were found to have offered to pay the 12-year-old Stoke youngster's school fees, as well as speaking to the player out of turn while still at Stoke, and paying for him and some of his family to attend a match at Anfield.
Liverpool were found in breach of Premier League rule 299.1, which states: “no Club shall induce or attempt to induce a player to become registered as an Academy Player by that Club by offering him, or any person connected with him, either directly or indirectly, a benefit or payment of any description whether in cash or in kind."
Liverpool have accepted their punishment, issuing a short statement which said simply: "The club accepts the sanction."
The Reds will be banned from signing any academy players who have been registered with a Premier League or EFL club in the previous 18 months.
Although the ban is for two years the second 12 months has been suspended for a three-year period and will only be activated should the club be found guilty of a similar breach.
It's a big blow for Liverpool, who now won't be able to add any promising youth players to their team at least for another year. Players like Raheem Sterling, Jordan Ibe, and this year's debutants Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Woodburn and Ovie Ejaria all arrived in this fashion, and cutting off the supply even for a year could set their academy back. It's not a crippling blow, but it's one that hurts.
