The Santos Futebol Clube is banned from signing new players due to a debt of R$ 16 million to Portugal's Arouca. The team has 45 days to pay off the debt.

What happened?

The Santos Futebol Clube was notified in January of the debt to the Portuguese by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Now, the transfer ban has been registered with Fifa.

Why is this important for Santos Futebol Clube?

The Baixada team was working with a deadline to pay the Portuguese by February 26 and now is racing against time to get rid of the debt of defender João Basso. The problem should not drag on at Vila Belmiro.

What's next?

The Santos Futebol Clube had planned to use part of the proceeds from the sale of young left-back Souza, for almost R$ 100 million, to Tottenham to get rid of this debt. The management has not commented on the matter, but president Marcelo Teixeira had already promised the fans that all accounts would be settled.