Barcelona’s ban from transfer market activity, due to last until the end of next season, has been temporarily lifted after the Spanish club appealed the decision, FIFA said yesterday.

FIFA’s Appeal Committee said it had granted Barcelona the so-called “suspensive effect” meaning that the sanctions will be lifted until a final decision has been taken.

Earlier this month, the Spanish champions were banned for two consecutive transfer windows and also fined 450,000 Swiss francs ($508,100) for breaching the rules on the international transfer of foreign under-18 players.

That effectively meant the club could not sign any players until July 2015.

FIFA said that due to the complexity of the case, the appeals process, including a possible appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), was unlikely to be exhausted before the opening of the next transfer window on July 1.

It had, therefore, allowed the suspensive effect.