Sheffield United filed arbitration proceedings on Wednesday against the Premier League in a bid to regain its place in the top flight and relegate West Ham over the disputed transfer of Argentina striker Carlos Tevez.
Sheffield United asked for an arbitration panel to review the case and come up with a ruling within a month. The move came three days after the Blades were relegated following a 2-1 loss to Wigan and West Ham stayed up by beating Manchester United 1-0 on a goal by Tevez.
furious
Sheffield United and three other clubs are furious that West Ham continued to field Tevez despite admitting it broke Premier League transfer rules.
Tevez and Argentina teammate Javier Mascherano arrived at West Ham from Brazilian club Corinthians just after the season started.
But their contracts were owned by a third party, which broke Premier League regulations.
The Hammers were fined ?5.5 million (US$10.9 million) on April 27 by an independent panel, but relegation rivals contend the club should have had points deducted.
Based on the final standings, a three-point penalty would have been enough to send West Ham down instead of Sheffield United.
goals
While Mascherano moved to Liverpool, Tevez continued to play for the Hammers and his goals helped lift the club out of the relegation zone. He scored six goals as West Ham won seven of its last nine games.
"Sheffield United is challenging the legality of the League Commission's decision to hand West Ham a fine rather than [as had been universally expected] docking points and canceling the registration of Tevez," the Blades said in a statement.
The club, whose manager Neil Warnock quit on Wednesday, said it wants an arbitration panel to set aside the previous commission's decision and order a new disciplinary hearing against West Ham.
The Blades want to suspend preparations for next season which "wrongly assume that West Ham remains a Premiership club and that Sheffield United is relegated to the Championship."
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