Ghana defender Jonathan Mensah has been given a four-month global football ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) following a decision over a transfer that took place four years ago.

The CAS ruling deals with the 24-year-old defender’s transfer from Serie A club Udinese to French side Evian TG in 2011, in which the Italian team complained that he was not a free agent, as he said at the time, therefore making the transfer illegal considering the way that it took place.

According to Le Dauphiné, the Black Stars centre-back has been suspended from football activities for four entire months, with Evian receiving a fine of one million euros as punishment for their part in the signing of Mensah as a free agent while he was, in fact still under contract with the Friuli club. The amount will be paid to Udinese.

In addition, the French club could potentially face a transfer ban for the two seasons if they contravene any further rules, but at the moment that ban remains suspended.

CAS has revealed that Mensah’s suspension began on April 29, so the talented Ghanaian will need to be patient until after August 29 before he returns to a football pitch for any official matches.

The news comes at a difficult time for Evian, as they were relegated from Ligue 1 on Saturday following a 2-1 defeat to Saint-Etienne. This means that Mensah’s club will join Lens and Metz in Ligue 2 next season.