FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Bundesliga - FC Cologne v Hertha BSC - RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany - May 12, 2023 FC Cologne fans are seen in the stands before the match REUTERS/Benjamin Westhoff
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(Reuters) - Cologne's one-year transfer ban imposed by FIFA was provisionally suspended on Friday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as it considers an appeal lodged by the club, the Bundesliga outfit said in a statement.
Cologne were banned from signing players for next season after the world governing body accused the club of encouraging Slovenian 17-year-old Jaka Cuber Potocnik to break his contract with Olimpija Ljubljana and join them in January 2022.
A FIFA tribunal had fined Cologne 51,750 euros ($57,000), banned them from signing new players in the next two transfer windows and suspended Potocnik for four months.
Cologne said Potocnik's four-month ban had also been suspended.
The German club said Potocnik left Olimpija because of “numerous breaches of contract” and did not incite him to leave his former team.
Olimpija were not immediately available to comment on Friday.
"Now we can become active in the transfer market within the limits of our possibilities due to economic consolidation," Cologne managing director Christian Keller said, adding that the club was committed to have the FIFA ban completely lifted.
($1 = 0.9084 euros)
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
