Chelsea has filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the ban on signing new players imposed on them by FIFA, officials said on Thursday.

The Blues have also asked for the transfer ban to be suspended until the result of the appeal is decided, Reuters reported.

Chelsea were found guilty in September of inducing French youngster Gael Kakuta to break his contract with French club Racing Lens and was therefore banned from registering any new players until January 2011.

Chelsea did not immediately comment on its request, which was posted on the CAS Web site.

If CAS rules in favor of Chelsea, the London club could sign players during the January transfer window.