OMNISPORT 

Atletico Madrid will appeal against their FIFA ban from registering new players during the next two complete transfer windows, the Liga club has announced.

Atletico and its city rival Real Madrid were both hit with bans earlier on Thursday after the Disciplinary Committee of world football's governing body found them to be in breach of regulations "relating to the international transfer and registration of players under the age of 18".

Barcelona landed a similar punishment in April 2014, although an ultimately rejected process of appeals meant the sanctions did not take effect until Jan. 2015.

A statement released on Atletico's official website confirmed that it will also challenge FIFA's ruling.

The statement read: "Club Atletico de Madrid has received today a ruling from FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee that sanctions us with a ban from hiring national or foreign players during the next two whole recruitment periods and with a fine of 900,000 Swiss francs (approximately 820,000 euros).

"According to the communication from the international football body, the sanction was caused by the infringement of articles 5, 9, 19 and 19A and annexes 2 and 3 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.  

"Our club does not agree with the imposed sanctioning ruling and will examine all the documentation received to lodge an appeal against the sanction."

Atletico has already signed Augusto Fernandez from Celta Vigo during the current transfer window, while fellow midfielder Matias Kranevitter has also been added to coach Diego Simeone's squad following his loan spell at River Plate.

Reports this week have also suggested the club is keen to tie down current first-team players Jan Oblak, Jose Gimenez, Angel Correa and Antoine Griezmann to extended contracts, and frenzied activity could be a feature for the remainder of January at the Vicente Calderon with FIFA's sanctions looming.