Romanian still struggling to pay ridiculous £14.6m fine

Adrian Mutu was sacked by Chelsea in 2004 on account of his cocaine abuse, and was given a seven month ban and a £20,000 fine by the FA. When he signed for Juventus (via Livorno) as a free agent during this mandatory exile period, the Blues demanded £9.6m from the player to compensate for the initial transfer fee.

Mutu soon regretted hiring a lawyer he saw running down the street after an ambulance, as the fine was increased to £14.6m after two appeals to the very same Court of Arbitration for Sport who recently banned Chelsea from transfer activity.

Some might say that the transfer ban helped to restore karmic balance following Chelsea’s lack of compassion towards the Romanian, but the point remains that £14.6m is a penalty that only a handful of footballers could realistically afford to pay. In his latest bid to avoid the angry Russian debt collectors, Mutu has written an open letter to FIFA and his former employers. Sky Sport Italia printed the highlights, which Goal.com roughly translated:

“To Chelsea, the FIFA disciplinary committee and FIFA president Josep Blatter

“I write this letter

Without mentioning the fact they thought this was a good idea…

Fulham are the latest club hoping to make money from West Ham’s decision to compensate Sheffield United. According to The Independent. they will launch a legal claim on the basis that were it not for Carlos Tevez, they would have finished above the Hammers and would therefore have made an extra £700,000 in prize money.

Here are five flaws that The Spoiler has found in Fulham’s argument:

1) Fellow compensation-seeker Neil Warnock believes Fulham would have been relegated that season if Rafael Benitez hadn’t fielded reserves against them in the penultimate game of the season. Warnock has said since: “Maybe Rafa gets a yearly hamper from Harrods for his team selections.” That was Fulham’s only win from their final twelve games.

2) Carlos Tevez lasted only 13 minutes against them that season before getting injured at Craven Cottage. His replacement Bobby Zamora, West Ham’s top scorer that season, scored. Using Lord Griffiths magic calculator, it could be argued that the game may have finished 3-2 to the hosts had Zamora not replaced Tevez, a result which would have seen Fulham finish above West Ham

Stoke reserve admits he will chase compensation if others do

Former Sheffield United player Michael Tonge has revealed he would contemplate joining a legal claim against West Ham if some of his ex-teammates hold his hand. He said:

“I’m just waiting to see what comes of it. I’m not taking it upon myself to make a claim, but might consider joining one.”

The midfielder is back in the Premier League now with Stoke - and one has to wonder who he will blame if the Potters go down this summer - but Tony Pulis obviously doesn’t rate him too highly as he has started just one league game.

Tonge also showed ignorance of the situation by stating that Carlos Tevez’ goal on the final day at Old Trafford kept West Ham up

Should the Premier League have demanded more proof in April?

The latest extract leaked from The Daily Mail’s copy of the Tevez tribunal outcome offers even more proof that the incompetence of Premier League chiefs Richard Scudamore and Dave Richards is to blame for the current situation:

If the Premier League had known what Mr Duxbury for West Ham was saying to Mr Joorabchian’s solicitor (Graham Shear) following the commission’s decision, we are confident the Premier League would have suspended Mr Tevez’s registration as a West Ham player.

This implies that while the Premier League gave West Ham permission to play Carlos Tevez in the final three matches on the understanding that the Hammers had amended their arrangement with Kia Joorabchian, chief executive Scott Duxbury was telling the MSI chief differently behind closed doors.

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.

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

Administrative body dishing out cash for no particular reason

In a move that will only aid the top English clubs in their quest to widen the gap between themselves and the rest of the league, UEFA have decided to compensate teams for the use of their players in Euro 2008:

The bill comes to around £32million, with UEFA paying roughly £3,200 per player for every day they are involved in the event.

Yes, you read that correctly, Europe’s footballing body will pay £3,200 for the privilege of keeping players match fit, instead of letting them go and guzzle cocktails in the sun for a few weeks. This means cash-strapped Liverpool will bag around £280,000 from the tournament, while Arsenal stand to make £90,000 from allowing Senderos and Dijourou to serve their country.

Even more ridiculously, the compensation will be shared with any clubs who have employed the players over the last two years, meaning Atletico Madrid will make a tidy packet from Fernando Torres’