Hammers ready to fight Tevez ruling

West Ham are planning to approach the Court of Arbitration for Sport to appeal the tribunal ruling in favour of Sheffield United, according to BBC Sport’s news ticker.

The FA yesterday released a statement in which they said: ”There is no further right of appeal under FA rules.”

However, the East London club were apparently dissatisfied to learn that they may be forced to pay £30 million based on the tribunal’s assumption, for which they took advice from journalist Henry Winter, that they stayed up solely because of Carlos Tevez’s contribution and are prepared to take the case to the top.

Read it and weep, Blades

Hindsight is often failures only friend, and it’s important to learn from your mistakes. In the case of Sheffield United, the lesson is to play better when you’re up against the best teams in the land - that’s how you stay in the top flight.

Here’s some proof that handsome Mr Tevez really had nothing to do with it:

* Four of West Ham’s seven wins at the end of the 2006-07 season were by a one-goal margin. Of those, Bobby Zamora scored the winning goal in three, while Carlos Tevez grabbed the decider in just one. Of course, that game was the 1-0 win at Old Trafford on the final day.

A can of worms has been opened, folks

Photo: PA

Sheffield United’s successful tribunal ruling against West Ham could cost the Hammers £30m in compensation, and it also sets a dangerous precedent for results on the pitch being overruled by men in suits. The Spoiler decided to examine other potential footballing matters that could end up being settled by lawyers:

1) Watford miss out on the play-offs by a point

The Football League have decided there will be no replay of Saturday’s Watford/Reading match, despite the fact that the Royal’s opener was clearly not a goal. If Watford end up finishing just outside the play-off places, or if Reading wind up just inside them - does that give Watford the right to sue the Football League, the referee and the linesman?

2) Germany claim the 1966 World Cup

Sheffield United were able to win their case relying predominantly on ‘what ifs’, rather than solid facts. Imagine how successful a Germany appeal could be when they have digitally-enhanced evidence that Geoff Hurst’s second goal didn’t cross the line - another example of West Ham cheating!

3) England gain passage to the 1986 World Cup semi-finals

Maybe England could compensate for losing that World Cup by sueing Argentina for Diego Maradona’s