On May 23, international football governing body FIFA ordered Kalju to pay compensation to Cardoso for the termination of his contract. A clause was added to the decision stating that if the that did not happen within a period of 45 days, Nõmme Kalju would be banned from registering new players - domestic or international - until the amount is paid.

In July, Kalju took FIFA's decision to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the hope of launching an appeal. However, the club later changed tack and Kalju president Kuno Tehva promised that Cardoso would receive the money when the club is able to transfer it.

However, as Cardoso has still not received the full amount owed, FIFA moved to ban Kalju from registering new players internationally in the next three transfer windows, or a year and a half. FIFA is also demanding that the Estonian Football Association (EJK) impose a similar ban on Kalju o prevent the club making new signings domestically.

Tehva told Estonian football portal Soccernet that the ban will be lifted if Cardoso receives the total amount. "We still need to make a small payment, around half has been paid. As our transfer window opens in January, we will try to make the (money) transfer in December," the Kalju president said.

More information can be found on Soccernet (in Estonian) here.

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