Former San Lorenzo player Ignacio Piatti has been denied a place in the Club World Cup after his proposed short-term loan deal was deemed unworkable by FIFA.
Ignacio Piatti was one of the most important players for Copa Libertadores champions San Lorenzo as they lifted the prestigious trophy for the first time in their history in August, with the high standard of his performances catching the eye of MLS side Montreal Impact.
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He joined the American outfit as one of their designated players in the immediate aftermath of the final, but despite leaving San Lorenzo he repeatedly expressed a desire to return to his old side to play in the showpiece FIFA event – even using a post-game ESPN interview to speculate that “maybe something can happen for me to be able to play over there [in Morocco]”.
Montreal were sympathetic to his ambitions, and both they and San Lorenzo wanted to make the deal happen. It would have allowed San Lorenzo to make use of a much-loved talisman whilst also giving the Impact the exposure of Piatti becoming the first current MLS player to participate in the tournament.
Originally Piatti was only going to re-join San Lorenzo for the month of December, but it would have required him to be registered for two clubs at once – something that Article 5 of FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players prohibits.
With the registration window for new players in Argentina closing on Sunday night, the deal collapsed after it emerged Piatti would have needed to move immediately to circumvent Article 5. It would have made him illegible for the remainder of the 2014 MLS season along with the entirety of the club’s 2014/15 CONCACAF Champions League campaign – something Montreal were not prepared to sanction.