The Premier League side was banned from registering new players for two successive transfer windows by FIFA in February, a punishment handed down for breaching rules related to acquiring and registering players under the age of 18.

An appeal to FIFA had been partially upheld, allowing the Blues to sign players 16 or younger, but Friday's announcement means they will now be able to buy reinforcements for their senior team in January.

Chelsea has since taken the opportunity to lambast FIFA's treatment of them, convinced it was dealt a crueller hand than Manchester City, which avoided a transfer ban in August despite the world's governing body finding it to have breached rules on under-18 signings.