Chelsea fans may be celebrating after having their two-window transfer ban lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but many will be left wondering what this means for FIFA's crusade against Europe's wealthy clubs picking up the game's brightest stars before they have penned a professional contract.

After Chelsea were found guilty of effectively 'stealing' Gael Kakuta from RC Lens, leading to the transfer ban as well as a four-month suspension for the player and fines, there was a collective cheer among many fans. The clampdown had begun.

Other claims against Premier League clubs began to surface, with most clubs appearing to be in favour of banning international transfers for players under the age of 18. As Chelsea have escaped any censure whatsoever over this affair it seems unlikely anything will happen on that front.

It makes Carlo Ancelotti's calm handling of the January transfer window understandable; though no one wanted to see him run naked around Chelsea's training ground. Both Ancelotti and the league leaders must have been extremely confident that they would be able to trade freely in the summer, otherwise they would have had to spend big in the winter window.

While stressing that the Court of Arbitration for Sport have cleared Chelsea of any wrongdoing, perhaps the most enlightening part of Thursday evening's statements came with Chelsea admitting they had paid compensation to the French club: "In an act of good faith and with a view to the possibility of future collaboration with Lens, and without recognising any liability, Chelsea has agreed to pay compensation costs for the training given to the player while at Lens, as mandated by FIFA in its original ruling."

The compensation payment will remain undisclosed, but it is likely to be a sizeable amount.

Chelsea may hope that this puts an end to the affair, but it amounts to settling out of court rather than being found not guilty by the CAS. Some of the mud will surely still stick.

So, were Lens only interested in the money, and once that was forthcoming had no other interest in the wheels of justice and the good of the game?

What will become of future cases like Le Havre's discontent with Manchester United over the signing of Paul Pogba, for instance? Perhaps a compensation payment will see similar complaints disappear, too.

Lazio were also in a rage over the loss of Federico Macheda to the Red Devils, with president Claudio Lotito claiming they were "robbed" of one of their young stars and that "young players are treated like cattle." How is anything going to change now?

This is basically what football boils down to: money. Lens may have fuming back in September when news of the ban broke, but now they have their cash they are happy. And it will surely be the same at every club.