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Hammers set to fight crippling Tevez verdict
Tom Collomosse & Ken Dyer, Evening Standard24.09.08
West Ham were today preparing to fight an independent tribunal's ruling in favour of Sheffield United over the Carlos Tevez affair.
The Hammers could face a crippling £30million bill but their lawyers are looking at ways to appeal against the decision, which they believe could set a dangerous precedent for football.
A West Ham spokesman said today: "We are digesting the report of the arbitration panel and will decide the next step once we have consulted with our lawyers."
One possible route would be to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.
Another option for the club would be to reach a settlement with United before 2 October, when the compensation fee is due to be determined at a separate damages hearing.
The Championship club are demanding £30,396,897 and 32p in lost revenue, including £4m for Phil Jagielka, who was sold to Everton for that sum as a result of relegation.
Having already agreed to take points that would probably have seen the club relegated and Tevez was cleared to play, scoring the only goal against Manchester United on the last day of the season.
West Ham finished with 41 points and United, who went down with 38, then had to sell Jagielka.
The decision is a further blow for West Ham, who lost their main sponsor XL this month after the travel company went into liquidation.
The club would have to sell players to find the sum United want at a time when owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson is trying to make them self-sufficient.
The judgement on the Tevez affair today read: "We have no doubt that West Ham would have secured at least three fewer points over the 2006-07 season if Carlos Tevez had not been playing for the club.
"We think it more likely than not that even over the final two games of the season, West Ham would have achieved at least three points less overall without Mr Tevez."
Sheffield United chairman Kevin McCabe said: "The matter is still legally in process so I do not wish to comment further until we have completed that process."
Reader views (22)
The only justice in all of this was that Neil Warnock lost his job after not being able to keep his useless side in the Premier League. What a surprise it was to hear him blaming someone else for his failings, as he does with every referee in every game he loses. Sheffield United are rubbish now and always will be, with or without £30 million.
- Paul R, London
If Watford miss out on automatic promotion by 2 points, then lose in the play offs will they go to arbitration in view of the no goal on Saturday, as this fiasco will set a precedent if WHU have to pay vast amounts of money.
Also, am surprised that SUFC have thrown in the Jakielka scenario.
Was not he the player who decided to punch the ball away in the penalty area giving Wigan the penalty in the final game of the season which sent them down.
Getting 4m for him was a bargain.
- Peter Gibsom, Romford, England
All teams who have fielded ineligible players in league games in the past have had POINTS DEDUCTED except for the 'footbal academy, you would not have won the World Cup in '66 without us' West Ham - Discuss
- John Parkin, London N8
Didn't Sheffield United join the PL in full agreement that whatever the PL rule cannot be challenged ?
Weren't Sheffield United out of the bottom three going into the last game of that season ?
Would not have West Ham secured a point if Tevez' goal at Old Trafford reversed because of Man United's failure to score that day ?
Should Sheffield United also blame Liverpool for deliberately fielding a weakened team against Fulham, which gave Fulham the result that kept them up ?
West Ham under the tenure of Terence Brown, Paul Aldridge and Scott Duxbury were reponsible for misleading the PL, and the PL, as was their right, punished them with a fine.
This decision cannot be reversed.
To say that Carlos Tevez is the reason Sheffield United were relegated is frankly comical in the extreme which is why this ruling is so ambiguous in its basis.
- John Bloomfield, Twickenham, Middlesex
To all you hammers fans,One big point you're all missing. Tevez not only played but scored the only goal of the match against man united to secure the points to keep you up never mind the rest of the other games he played in. you and the likes of brooking should accept it.
cheats don't prosper.
- Ian, Sheffield
Have us Blades ever had a straightforward life
NO
On a plus side maybe we could have West ham present the Cheque on a match day at the lane
to be honest though i cannot see West Ham being concerend as Prince AbuDiBuyeeeeClubee will probably move in next week and there future will be safe
- London Blade, London
Those who cheat deserve all they get and West Ham CHEATED,I hope that club goes bust and that my club SUFC use this money to get back to the premier league.
And to those who say its set a precendent then I wonder what Boro,Leeds,Swindon Luton Rotherham and the rest would have to say about that?As the saying says what goes around comes around.Justice has been done at last.
- Roy, sheffield
Dave, South London ......... can you please explain how West Ham cheated ? Don't answer straight away take your time ... look up on the internet what you have to and get back to me.
- Carl, Hornchurch
Carl, let me try to make this make it simple as I can for you. First, take off your claret & blue tinted glasses and try to see the light. WHU allowed two players to represent them, when they did not have the sole 'playing ownership' of them. That's against the games rules, WHU knew it, played them anyway and that's CHEATING. Now even WHU admit to that, so the concept shouldn't be too painful for you to accept, should it?
What is the issue here is whether points should have been deducted (as has had been the norm in the past for such offences, which would have almost certainly relegated WHU or whether a fine be given, that pales into the insignificant, compared with the money they would get from the new TV deal in place for the following season.
- David, South London
Carl from Hornchurch,
If you didn't know already West Ham signed two players under contracts, which is in breach of PL Rule U18 (and by default B13), and played those players whilst trying to hide the fact from the PL.
At the hearing the commission stated "This was not only an obvious and deliberate breach of the rules, but a grave breach of trust as to the Premier League and its constituent members.
"In our finding the club has been responsible for dishonesty and deceit."
Sounds like cheating to me!
How many other clubs have been only fined for fielding ineligible players? The fact is that PL bottled out of a points deduction, when one was surely warranted.
- Mark, South-East London
The fact that we pleaded guilty in the premier league case against us shows that we held our hands up. If the Premier league deemed it right to fine us £5.5m then why would that be our fault. I think that Sheffield Utd fans are also missing the fact that Tevez did play against them 5 games away from the end of the season, and they beat us 3-0. Obviously he had a huge influence in that game!
- Stew, Chelmsford
This is a very perverse judgement, with dire consequences for sport, Sheffield United during the same season requested [ told ] Watford not to play the goalkeeper that had transferred to them, presumably this also broke the rules, The reason Sheffield United went down was because they were over the season an inferior side to the teams that stayed up. Will Derby be able to sue someone now because of some minor technicality. I notice on of the Arbitrators was an ex official of the MCC. I rest my case
- Terry O'Donnell, london england
Dave, South London ......... can you please explain how West Ham cheated ? Don't answer straight away take your time ... look up on the internet what you have to and get back to me.
- Carl, Hornchurch
presumably Sheffield United will be forced to hand back the parachute payment they would not otherwise be entitled to had they stayed up ?
- John Bloomfield, Twickenham, Middlesex
I don't think it fair to say Carlos Tevez solely kept West Ham up in the Premiership. Don't forget West Ham had a good start to the season and when Tevez came on board they suddenly nose dived in team performance. Tevez and Mascherano were blamed for unsettling the team. £30,396,897 won’t get's Sheffield United back into the Premiership. Looking at their current position in the Championship table it seems to me there in the division they should be!
- Paul, London
As posted on a web site for season 2006/7 West Ham's average points per game prior to Tevez signing was 1.25 giving a 38 game average of 47.5 points for the season. After hes signed thie average went down to 1.09 points per game ~ also he was elgible to play in the last two games as agreed with the premier lesague so what has that got to do with it?.
So how can anyone say West Ham would have secured more points with Tevez when statistics prove we actually averaged less points per game with him?
- Mick, London
Yes John C, and neither were West Ham good enough without CHEATING. The £5.5M fine by the PL was testement to the fact that WHU knowingly broke regulations and CHEATED, Unfortunately, and no doubt with a little help from your chum Trevor Brooking, even the PL 'copped out' of deducting you points (which they'd done in the past and should have done again), because they knew it would relegate WHU, and meant that you would have missed out on the new TV deal and the ten's of millions of pounds, on offer. They say CHEATS never prosper, so see this decision as a bit of karma.
- David, South London
Well, whatever next? Shall we sue the home fans who chanted as the away team's striker missed a vital penalty that would have seen then avoid the dreaded drop? Perhaps if West Ham need to sell players to pay a rediculous fine, they could then sue Sheffield for making then sell these players??
- Robert, Hedemora, Sweden
Ay opp, John C! Tha's blinkered reet enough!
- Paul, London
How exactly does an arbitration panel, paid for by Sheffield United, conclude that West Ham would have won 3 fewer points without Tevez ? How many points would West Ham had won had Tevez (and Masherano) not played including the 3-0 defeat at Bramall Lane ? That is purely conjectural and hardly the basis of an award which, I suspect will be far less than the numbers being bandied about, hence why Kevin McCabe is desperately trying to whip up support in the media
- John Bloomfield, Twickenham, Middlesex
Looks like we'll be going down with Spurs.
- Chris, London
How can ANYBODY tell you a match result. There are shocks every week (liverpool 0 Stoke 0 ) Who is to say what W/Ham would have done. Perhaps that Chairman of the panal should do the football pools or fixed odds and put his house on it if its that easy. W/Ham have been to court 3 times and have been cleared, not ONE club said anything about points deduction when they were fined £5.5 mill.
It would prove mighty interesting to see that Chaiman forcast all this weeks results, I suppose it would be so easy for him maybe he is Horace Batchular in disguise.
- Ron. W, england
Firstly I'll admit I a WHU supporter so maybe my view is a little clouded, but one thing seems to be overlooked in this matter. Simply, Sheffield U were just not good enough across an entire to win enough points to stay up. In this world is also somebody else's fault - look at your own club first.
- John C, london
