Transfer ban may end up being minor irritant, but reminds Chelsea of enduring problem

Amid all of the readily available advice, online, on how to commit the perfect crime: little of it could suggest posting the evidence on the web as a tactic.

But in the case of Chelsea's freshly delivered transfer ban, effectively for trafficking minors, that is exactly how Chelsea were caught.

Brazen as you like, professionally taken images of Bertrand Traore, playing in Chelsea blue and in U18s action, were posted online for all to see.

And that was the start of the investigation that may see the club's transfer policy crippled until summer 2020 – or, possibly, even later than that.

FIFA will not name the 29 players to which its charges relate. But whether Traore is in there or not, his appearance for Chelsea's Under 18s at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium on 23 October 2011, just a month after his 16th birthday, is what would eventually pique FIFA's interest.

Were Traore an EU national, all this would have been fine. Just.

Those rules permit 16 to 18 year olds to be moved across borders, subject to various strict rules, and played.

But being from Burkina Faso, in the case of Traore those rules were smashed to pieces.

Chelsea says it 'categorically refutes' the charges found against it by FIFA, and will appeal.

But the club was found guilty in the case of 29 players – no minor misdemeanour.

And the ban that has been put in place will mean, as it stands, what Chelsea cannot register any new players during those two windows. (They are permitted to sell).

They were, earlier in the investigation, cleared of alleged offences relating to 63 players – so it is fair to say this has been a thorough investigation by world football's governing body.

Coming at a time when Champions League qualification is looking unlikely, the future of Maurizio Sarri is looking very uncertain, players including Eden Hazard and Callum Hudson-Odoi are close to leaving, and UEFA are expected to close part of their ground for racist chanting – this is starting to look like the perfect storm.

Chelsea's triggering of the appeals process will temporarily stay the ban.

These things take ages to go through process, so it is almost certain that summer 2019 will be retrieved from FIFA's clutches, and the club will continue to trade throughout that window.

Other such bans have seen appeals partially successful: with them reduced from two windows to one.

There is some suggestion that FIFA so often puts in place a two-window ban, simply because it expects this merry dance to be played out – ensuring they end up with a single window ban, to set an example.

If that one window is as low as Chelsea can beat down the penalty, they will want it to fall in winter rather than summer.

In recent seasons, the club has bought few players in January, and in elite football the mid-season break is generally seen as a time for stopgaps, rather than major rebuilding work.

So, what may have initially seemed like a doomsday scenario on this front, may actually end up as little more than an irritant – though this does little to dilute the feeling that a series of slow-evolving problems are all coming to a head at once, at Chelsea.

The club's youth recruitment arm will be smarter in future – at least they surely will not allow themselves to be so easily caught in the act.

But, with all of this, the biggest question is not relating to rules or regulations, but to benefits.

Chelsea risked so much to gain access to these players. But none of them has broken through to the first team.

And that is a problem older, and more enduring, than any of the others.