Charlton Athletic mounted a failed high court challenge earlier this season which set a precedent that could scupper attempts to take the Premier League to court over the Carlos Tevez affair. The club had tried to overturn a judgment by a football disciplinary commission, and the high court's ruling will have a direct impact on the so-called "gang of four" clubs' attempts to contest the failure to penalise West Ham with a points deduction.
The Charlton case was brought before Justice Simon in the high court in January, with the Premier League's support. It challenged the FA's right to extend the one-match ban handed to Osei Sankofa for his dismissal against Arsenal to two matches on the grounds that the appeal had been "frivolous".
The judge found that recourse to the courts for actions against sports bodies should be limited. "I would not wish to be taken to decide that the court will never intervene in this type of case," he said. "However, such cases are likely to be wholly exceptional."
The impact of that ruling is likely to be that courts would have to be persuaded of the "wholly exceptional" nature of a challenge to the Tevez case, adding a supplementary first barrier to legal action. Even so Sheffield United, Wigan, Charlton and Fulham do believe they retain a strong case against the Premier League's ruling and are determined to pursue it.
Wigan's owner Dave Whelan claimed yesterday Tevez could not have been properly re-registered after West Ham were fined and that the league had "created a new (transfer) window". "I don't think there's any chance of reversing the (commission's) decision, but we still believe that Tevez has been playing illegally," said Whelan.
The league's chief executive Richard Scudamore contacted all 20 in an attempt to broker peace. He informed them he would today send out a letter setting out the Premier League's position and clarifying issues he feels have been "misconstrued". He also stated his intention to expand on previous correspondence but it is unlikely that details of Tevez's new contract will be disclosed.
That is unlikely to satisfy Whelan, whose comments turned against Scudamore personally yesterday. ". . . I want him to be a bit more up front, take responsibility and admit they were wrong. And get the thing put right. West Ham should be relegated and they should be relegated in the next fortnight. My sympathies lie with Sheffield United because they have been treated very, very badly and the fight to get them reinstated by me, by Fulham, by Charlton and by Middlesbrough continues."
Some of Whelan's attack appears to have been bluster, with Middlesbrough's chief executive Keith Lamb stating there is no basis to claims his club would be party to action against the league.
Guardian Service
