Hammers to appeal to CAS over Tevez ruling
West Ham to appeal to CAS over decision in Carlos Tevez affair
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Wednesday, 24, Sep 2008 10:02
West Ham United are to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a bid to overturn the result of the Football Association's arbitration hearing decision in the Carlos Tevez affair.
An FA panel ruled in Sheffield United's favour that the Hammers had breached their duty to their rival club when they fielded Tevez - whose goals effectively saved the east Londoners from relegation - in the closing matches of the 2006/07 Premier League season.
West Ham were fined a record £5.5 million after they failed to fully adhere to FA rules when they signed the Argentinean from Corinthians in August 2006.
But the Blades claimed the fine was not a sufficient punishment and the Hammers should have had points docked from their total - which would effectively have sent them down to the Championship.
As it was, West Ham survived relegation and Sheffield United finished in the bottom three instead.
It was initially thought that the arbitration hearing would mark the end of the matter, with a compensation package - rumoured to be up to £30 million - to be agreed when the panel reconvenes at a later date.
The FA's rule K5(c) states that by agreeing to the arbitration process with the sport's governing body in England, "the parties shall be deemed to have waived irrevocably any right to appeal, review or any recourse to a court of law".
However, this rule will not apply to the CAS because it is a tribunal rather than a law court.
The club revealed yesterday they would be taking legal advice before issuing a further statement.
And it has been confirmed today that an approach will be made to the CAS over taking the case to the highest arbiter in international sport with a view to contesting the most recent decision.
After confirming their intentions, the club said in a statment: "While we respect the judgement of the FA arbitration panel, we do not accept that one player's contribution can be placed over that of the team as a whole nor used as the basis for judging the results of a 38-game season.
"This ruling undermines the significant efforts of our entire playing squad and coaching staff over the duration of the 2006/07 Premier League season and does not take sufficient account of the performances of the other 19 clubs in the competition."
It continued: "We acknowledge again that the club broke Premier League rules in the original signing of Carlos Tevez but we were dealt with accordingly by an independent Premier League commission and accepted the significant punishment handed down at that time.
"In light of this and the wider implications of this latest ruling for English football we have decided to ask that the case be considered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport."