OTHER SPORT

GANG OF FOUR TO SUE OVER HAMMERS

Carlos Tevez

Saturday May 5,2007

By Harry Harris

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Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed yesterday threw open the doors of Harrods, the store for the rich and famous, as football’s poor relations plotted their revenge on the Premier League.

His invitation to a summit meeting was taken up by Charlton, Wigan and Sheffield United and last night the message from the clubs was stark: “We’ll sue the League.”

The clubs’ summit ended with a letter to the Premier League urging them to reopen their investigation and convene a new commission to look at the case again. They said the League’s contention that contracts held by “third-party” owners of Tevez were “unenforceable” must be properly tested.

And the clubs said that they reserved the right to take court action under section 459 of the 1985 Companies Act.

As the Daily Express revealed yesterday, Wigan chairman Dave Whelan is prepared to back legal action by any club relegated should West Ham escape following the Premier League commission decision not to dock points for fielding ineligible players.

But yesterday the focus switched to Knightsbridge as Fulham’s wealthy owner dramatically called the meeting.

Fulham demanded that West Ham are stripped of all 22 points they earned from eight other clubs while playing Carlos Tevez. Al Fayed instructed his Fulham board to back the battle for justice against the league that decided a record £5.5million fine was punishment enough.

The legal experts from the other clubs met Fulham director Stuart Benson, who told me: “Mohamed Al Fayed will always fight on a point of principle and there is a huge issue here, not just one club, ourselves, trying to grab our points back.

“The judgment on West Ham is fundamentally flawed, and there are two issues – the points West Ham earned with ineligible players and the points other clubs have lost.”

SUE THE HAMMERS

06.05.07, 9:25am

Its a sad reflection on the lack of sportsmanship in English Football now. When the bottom four Clubs in the Premiership are resorting to taking legal action to see that one of their rivals in the relegation fight get further punished, with maybe the possibility of points deduction if their legal review is successful.
These Clubs should be ashamed of themselves for there actions!
I wonder if they themselves have any skeletons in the cupboard?

• Posted by: steveg • Report Comment