Tevez left in limbo

The Hammers, who were also ordered to cancel and re-structure Tevez's contract, were last night struggling to do so in time for him to play in this afternoon's crucial relegation match at Wigan.

Scroll down for more

An independent Premier League commission accused Terry Brown, Paul Aldridge and West Ham's surviving deputy chief executive Scott Duxbury of acting with dishonesty and deceit' in a 26-page report on the case.

It did not persuade them to punish relegationthreatened West Ham, now under new ownership, with a points deduction but they have received a huge fine and Sportsmail understands chairman Eggert Magnusson and his colleagues will pursue Brown and Aldridge through the courts.

In a statement issued yesterday, West Ham hinted strongly that they would take such action.

"The club will reflect on the financial penalty that has been imposed and will take advice before commenting on the possibility of an appeal or any further steps that might be taken."

Brown, who remains an honorary vice-president after stepping down as chairman, received more than £33m when Magnusson and his Icelandic consortium took charge.

Presumably, he will be asked to hand a sizeable chunk back. West Ham officials pleaded guilty to signing players owned by a third party. The Argentina internationals were part-owned by Media Sports Investment and the former West Ham hierarchy kept those details from the Premier League.

Mascherano has since moved to Liverpool.

West Ham were guilty of misleading Premier League officials, chief executive Richard Scudamore among them, and deliberately failing to provide documents that would have exposed a breach of the rules.

It was revealed that Duxbury, whose position is said not to be under threat, misled' Premiership company secretary Jane Purdon, while Aldridge misled Mr Scudamore'.

In their report, the independent commission added that West Ham's then chief executive officer told Mr Scudamore a direct lie, namely there was no documentation whatever in respect of these players which the FAPL had not seen'.

The report concluded: "We are of the view that these are exceedingly serious allegations because they amount to not only an obvious and deliberate breach of the Rules, but a grave breach of trust as to the FAPL and its constituent members, because in our finding the club has been responsible for dishonesty and deceit.

"What we believe to have occurred here is that Messrs Brown, Aldridge and Duxbury were anxious to complete the registration of these players by the August 31 deadline. They knew that the only means by which they could acquire them would be by entering into the third party contracts."

And yet, to West Ham's relief, the their dishonesty, West Ham have been hit with a fine they can probably get their predecessors to pay.

In justifying the West Ham ruling, however, the commission revealed two key factors were taken into consideration: "One, the club's pleas of guilty. Two, the fact that the club is under new ownership and management.

"True, Mr Duxbury remains, but we are impressed by Mr Sturman's (Jim Sturman QC) point that Mr Magnusson could have cynically commission stopped short of docking points and instead issued a fine that will be paid into a Premier League charity account.

Earlier this season AFC Wimbledon were deducted 18 points and expelled from the FA Trophy after selecting a player who did not have international clearance although that penalty was eventually reduced to a three-point deduction.

And Bury were thrown out of the FA Cup last December after fielding an ineligible player. But, for dispensed with his services to reflect more favourably upon the club."

There were other reasons, including the delay in dealing with the situation — the commission did not consider it fair to dock points at such a late and critical stage of the season — and the position of the players and the fans who are in no way to blame for this situation'.

And by pleading guilty and cooperating so openly with the Premier League, the new West Ham hierarchy saved themselves £2.5m — the commission revealing they could have set the fine at £8m.

Chairman Magnusson said last night: "I am delighted that our desptiny will be decided on the football pitch."

The club expressed their relief earlier in a statement and conceded: "West Ham United received a fair hearing."

But the Hammers won no friends for failing to acknowledge an admission of guilt and dismissing the threat of a points deduction by adding: "The club has not been found guilty of fielding an unregistered player and speculation about a likely points deduction has proved to be unfounded."

Last night one Premier League insider dismissed that as stupid'.