Blades consider high court appeal
Blades fans saw their team relegated last season
Wednesday, 04, Jul 2007 09:16
Sheffield United have contacted the Premier League to seek the possibility of appealing against the findings of the arbitrational panel that ruled against them yesterday.
The Blades wanted a new disciplinary panel to adjudicate on the Premier League's original handling of the signings of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.
West Ham failed to properly register the Argentineans as they were still partly owned by a third party, which is against Premier League rules.
The Hammers were fined £5.5 million but the Blades want them to be docked points which would see the Yorkshire side reinstated to the top flight, having been relegated on the final day of the season under former manager Neil Warnock.
The ruling by the arbitration panel has given United fans some hope after it said that if the original decision had been theirs, the east London club would have faced a points penalty after all.
A Premier League statement said: "The Premier League has just been advised by our legal team that Sheffield United have launched an appeal in the high court.
"Our legal team inform us that this is a very narrow window of appeal where Sheffield United are claiming that the arbitration panel under Sir Philip Otton made an error in law by failing to send back the original decision to the independent disciplinary commission for reconsideration."
But the Blades deny having begun any legal proceedings and claim they only contacted the Premier League to see if any there was a possibility they could proceed with any additional appeals.
A club statement said: "Sheffield United have not lodged an appeal following the arbitration decision on Tuesday - despite reports to the contrary.
"The accurate explanation is that Sheffield United's lawyers had to inform the Premier League that the club has applied to find out if the club can lodge an appeal through the civil courts."
If the Blades were to appeal in the high court it is unlikely that a decision would come quickly enough for them to have the original Premier League decision overturned in advance of the new season in August.