Macedonian top flight side Shkupi and second division side Skopje have been banned to use the next three transfer windows, FIFA revealed.

FIFA today revealed that had decided to ban Shkupi on December 26, while the decision for Skopje had been brought on November 4, but revealed only today.

In the short announcement FIFA has not revealed a reason why the two Macedonian teams have faced such harsh punishment, but we can only speculate that it is probably of some debts to former players.

Recently the owner of Shkupi decided to leave the club claiming bad refereeing in the league, but now it is clear that he knew that his club has problems and was facing a warning from FIFA. Withy 22 points on half-season Shkupi currently sits 6th in the top flight and is far from the places that lead in the European competitions. They are 9 points above the relegation zone and if they fail to keep the current roster it will not be a surprise if they get relegated.

Skopje also has 22 points, but in the second league where they sit 8th and are far from the relegation zone.

Both teams may survive this season, but for the next they will have many problems to stay in the leagues as they won’t be able to bring new players during the winter transfer window 24/25, summer transfer window 2025 and winter transfer window 25/26.

However, later today the new Shkupi board gave the following statement:

“Regarding the latest news circulating through the media, which have to do with the blocking of the transfers for FC Shkupi, we inform the media, and especially our fans, that everything will be fixed by the new owners very soon. President Yasin Konyali himself has undertaken to pay off all the debts that have remained as a result of the procedural issues for the passing of the club into the ownership of the new directors. As it is known, the transfer of documentation takes time, the procedure is already underway and within the next week this problem will be solved. This means that FC Shkupi will have no problems at all in the winter transfer window market, which we are looking forward to.”