This week it had emerged that an out-of-court settlement had been agreed, believed to be in excess of £10 million, between West Ham United and Sheffield United in relation to the third-party ownership of Carlos Tevez which many saw as the end of one of the sorriest saga’s to blight English football.
Almost as soon as the settlement was confirmed the former Sheffield United manager, Neil Warnock, who was in charge of the club at the time they were relegated from the Premier League, publicly stated his intention to assess his legal rights in regards to potential compensation. And why not? The spiral of hypothetical events that descend from this saga start with Warnock who, as he justly believes, would still be in charge of Sheffield United in his “dream job” had his side not been relegated from the top tier of English football on the last day of the 2006/07 season.
For all his critics, and I don’t possess to be Warnock’s biggest fan, you can’t fail to see that he has an extremely valid point and he may well have just opened up the floodgates on the east London club.
It should not be forgotten that this case was the subject of an independent tribunal due to the nature of the circumstances involving the Premier League, West Ham United, Sheffield United and the third-party ownership rules. Prior to the tribunal’s report there was little sympathy for the Sheffield club, with people questioning why it took so long for them to raise their grievances’ and suggestions that they did not have the quality many thought was needed to stay in the Premier League regardless.
However, there was an increasing feeling of wrongdoing when it emerged that there was a breach, by West Ham, in the registration of their Argentine duo Javier Mascherano and Tevez, both who have now moved on to Liverpool and Manchester United respectively.
Tevez, who was seen to play a pivotal part in West Ham’s survival from relegation, scored seven goals in ten games helping the Hammers to win seven of their last nine matches which, at the time, upset not only Sheffield United but also Fulham and Wigan once news broke of the illegalities involved in his registration.
Since the initial fighting talk that united Wigan, Fulham and Sheffield United in their pursuit of justice Fulham and Wigan’s attention’s became somewhat of a distant memory once they had both secured their Premier League status. Sadly, for United, they were left to fight their own battle.
Tevez, who was seen to play a pivotal part in West Ham’s survival from relegation, scored seven goals in ten games helping the Hammers to win seven of their last nine matches which, at the time, upset not only Sheffield United but also Fulham and Wigan once news broke of the illegalities involved in his registration.
Since the initial fighting talk that united Wigan, Fulham and Sheffield United in their pursuit of justice Fulham and Wigan’s attention’s became somewhat of a distant memory once they had both secured their Premier League status. Sadly, for United, they were left to fight their own battle.
And so they did, eventually forcing the Premier League to hand out an unprecedented £5.5 million fine for West Ham’s illegitimate registration of both Mascherano and Tevez and, perhaps more importantly, to concede that this ultimately resulted in the relegation of the The Blades.
In all of this, and a view that Warnock has vehemently aired on occasions, is the fact that the one man who is, ultimately, accountable for one of the biggest oversights and amateurish dealings in world football, let alone English football, still maintains his job as chief executive of the Premier League; Richard Scudamore.
In all of this, and a view that Warnock has vehemently aired on occasions, is the fact that the one man who is, ultimately, accountable for one of the biggest oversights and amateurish dealings in world football, let alone English football, still maintains his job as chief executive of the Premier League; Richard Scudamore.
Nobody wants to see anybody lose their job, especially at a time when jobs are more valued now than they perhaps ever have been, but there are some obvious exceptions. If the lay person were to do anything similar to that of Scudamore, within context, then they’d be extremely lucky to find themselves still in that job. It is an absolutely absurd situation which was further underlined when the tribunal’s report effectively confirmed that Sheffield United were unjustly relegated.
How wrong we all we were to think that this out-of-court settlement was the end of the 'Carlos Tevez affair', it’s merely the tip of the iceberg and for West Ham United and the ever-evasive Premier League chief executive, Richard Scudamore, it could be an iceberg of Titanic proportion; especially given that Ken Bates, the Leeds United chairman, has hinted that he is also seeking legal advice for his right to compensation following the failure to secure contingency payments from Rob Hulse, Matthew Kilgallon and Ian Bennett as a result of Sheffield United's relegation.
When key decisions are to be made, and not the decisions involving a potential money-spinning ‘39th fixture’ abroad, about the legitimate ownership and registration of players then the Premier League knows who not to call upon but, unfortunately, that person happens to be the one person responsible for maintaining the integrity of the Premiership.
No comments:
Post a Comment