Manchester United cleared over Paul Pogba transfer

Manchester United was cleared yesterday by football's global ruling body Fifa of illegally inducing a player to join them. French club Le Havre had accused the Premier League champions of offering the 16-year-old Paul Pogba and his parents money and property to persuade the youngster to sign on at Old Trafford last summer, a claim that Manchester United had strenuously denied.

The dispute, which come to light in the wake of Chelsea being banned by Fifa from making any transfers for the next two windows, was stoked by Le Havre president Jean-Pierre Louvel, who said last month that: "[English clubs] tempt the parents. In the case of Pogba, it was fairly simple. One hundred thousands euros for the father, one hundred thousand euros for the mother, and a house. France respects a certain number of rules, but English clubs do not respect anything."

But the Fifa-appointed judge ruled that Manchester United could not have induced Pogba to sever ties with the Ligue 2 club as he didn't have a contract with them to break in the first place. Le Havre claimed they had a pre-contract agreement with the defensive midfielder from November 2006, but as an amateur player under French law this was deemed to be impossible.

"Manchester United is pleased to confirm that the Football Association has been authorised by Fifa to register Paul Pogba as a Manchester United player with immediate effect," the club said last night. The decision vinidcated the club's stance and showed that "everything has been done within Uefa guidelines".

The news will give encouragement to Chelsea in their bid to overturn their transfer bid, imposed after the club was ruled to have made an illegal approach to sign Gael Kakuta from Lens, another French club, in 2007. Their appeal is due to be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne before the ban comes into effect on January 1, 2010. ·