LAWFUEL – The Legal Newswire – Sheffield United yesterday threatened to take legal action against West Ham United and the Premier League over the Carlos Tevez affair, The Guardian reports.
Their warning came after being refused leave to appeal against a judgment by an arbitration panel that chose not to order a fresh disciplinary hearing against the London club. Mr Justice Andrew Smith refused United, who were being backed by Fulham, leave to take the case to the Court of Appeal.
United had sought to persuade the judge that Sir Philip Otton, the chairman of the arbitration panel, had made an error in law by not referring the case back to an independent disciplinary panel. They considered that this justified an appeal against Otton’s ruling in the commercial court. Their application failed but United – who claim relegation will cost them £50 million – have not abandoned attempts for legal recourse. The club said in a statement: “This application was made on very limited grounds and it has also been denied on very limited grounds.
“Sheffield United are not precluded from taking further action whether against the Premier League or West Ham. We will consider our position with our professional advisers and make further statements in due course.” The club’s lawyer, Paul Stothard, added that, “in playing a player who had not been properly registered [West Ham] could still be the subject of further claims”. That could constitute a compensation claim that could also extend against the league.
