Lausanne, Switzerland  - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday granted Chelsea a suspension of FIFA's transfer ban, allowing the English Premier League club to sign players during the January transfer window.

Chelsea were banned from signing any new players until 2011 after being found guilty of inducing Lens player Gael Kakuta to breach his contract with the French club two years ago.

Clichy was also banned from playing for four months by the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber.

"Such sanctions are now stayed until the CAS renders its final decision in this matter," said CAS in a statement.(dpa)