Sunday 8 July 2007

Tevez Latest

Manchester United's bid to sign Carlos Tevez from West Ham is in danger of collapsing under the weight of legal action surrounding the controversial deal according to the latest diatribe in the Mail. The article claims the whole 'messy saga' could drag on for months as Kia Joorabchian contests West Ham's right to tear up the notorious agreement which gave his companies, Media Sports Investments and Just Sport Inc, the power to transfer Tevez at a time of their choosing with only £100,000 going to the club. The Premier League insist that West Ham must keep the market rate of any loan or transfer fee or they will be guilty of breaching the same rule on third-party interference which resulted in their record £5.5 million fine. That hardline stance puts the League in the legal firing line and could result in Premier League chiefs Richard Scudamore and Sir Dave Richards face having to defend the League's rules in court.

Joorabchian, of course, maintains that his "economic rights" over Tevez, as detailed in the third-party agreement, must be respected. He believes West Ham are now under undue pressure from the Premier League to oppose him for fear of receiving the points deduction many observers (especially Daily Mail journalists) thought they deserved for the original offence. When West Ham elected to terminate the third-party agreement they effectively agreed that the Premier League had the right to scrutinise all aspects of any future Tevez transfer before sanctioning a deal. In theory, Eggert Magnusson could agree a loan or transfer fee with United and then make a separate deal with Joorabchian to split the proceeds. But this would have to meet the League's demands that they keep the sort of sum a club might expect for a player of Tevez's reputation, who wants to move on only one year into a four-year deal. Joorabchian, who invested millions in taking Tevez from Boca Juniors to Brazilian club Corinthians, then to Europe, is highly unlikely to accept anything less than a handsome return.

If the affair does reach court, as some expect, it remains to be seen whether Manchester United will maintain their interest in Tevez. A United spokesman said last night: "We are satisfied we have the authority to speak to the player and are pleased to have concluded an agreement on personal terms. We wait to see how the matter is resolved by other parties." Whatever happens, Tevez will not be able to join Manchester United without the Premier League approving every aspect of the deal and a League spokesman reiterated last night: "We support West Ham in asserting their rights over the player."

The alternative to court action, suggest the Mail, would be an embarrassing Premier League U-turn which would again call into question whether Tevez should have been allowed to play in the final three games of West Ham's season. This would give Sheffield United fresh hope of overturning their relegation or at least being well compensated for it. The High Court will decide on Friday if the Yorkshire club have a case for a legal appeal against the decision of an arbitration panel not to order the Premier League to set up a new disciplinary commission to reconsider the West Ham case. The relegated Blades believe that any carve-up between Joorabchian and West Ham of the fee from Old Trafford for Tevez would show he was still under third-party influence when he played a crucial role in the three games which saved West Ham from relegation. Chairman Kevin McCabe said: "If I understand correctly, the deal [Tevez to Manchester United] would involve a type of loan over two years with something like £3million payable per year. Nobody can say, when you are talking about such a significant sum of money, that it isn't a transfer fee. It would go to show what we have believed all along if some of that money, or option payments, goes back to a third party — however it finds its way there. The arbitration did not refer the matter back but [the panel] did express concerns and sympathise with us. With the information we now possess, and the knowledge we had before the arbitration, we are just as determined to press ahead and that is what we will do on Friday."

Meanwhile, hermetically sealed Carlos Tevez is still insisting he knows nothing about a reported two-year loan move to Manchester United. The West Ham and Argentina forward, who is on international duty at the Copa America, said: "I don't know anything. I'm focused on the Copa America and don't want to think about anything else." I guess the plethora of Manchester United related quotes attributed to the player this past week could all have been unfortunately timed hypothetical statements; just as the medical he underwent a few days ago could have been misinterpreted as merely a genuine concern from all those at Manchester United for his general well-being. Take the piece that appears in The Sunday People for example, where Carlos Tevez reveals, for arguments sake, that if he had promised Sir Alex Ferguson he would join Manchester United then he would not go back on his word. "Through my backers I have given my word to Mr Fergusion," he is quoted as saying. "They have told him that I will be at Old Trafford next season and once I make a promise I will not go back on it. There is not a player who would turn down this opportunity and the negotiations are too far advanced to go back now. I have been open and honest with West Ham United every step of the way and I hope that the fans understand. It will be a emotional and special day whenever I return to play them. I had two very good offers from foreign clubs in January but I refused because I had unfinished business. It would have been easy to move on but I could not leave the fans in that predicament. My representatives sat down with West Ham at the end of the season and once it became clear they were not going to sign me they gave me permission to talk to other clubs so I am surprised that this is causing such a stink."

Over at the News of the World we find out that heartless West Ham have sensationally evicted Carlos Tevez from his London apartment, 'ridiculing' claims that we want him to stay at the club. David Harrison insists the club booted the 23 year old out of his Canary Wharf penthouse- taking away all his personal belongings and moving in their new French signing, Julien Faubert- four days before Eggert Magnusson revealed that the player remains under contract until 2010 and is expected back for pre-season training. The article states Tevez was in Venezuela at the time where he's playing in the Copa America tournament. A source revealed: "The first Carlos knew about it was when his agent out in South America suddenly got a phone call from West Ham announcing they were moving a new player into his flat that day. They even asked whether Carlos could arrange for someone to take his possessions away-even though he was in Venezuela playing in the Copa America! Carlos was devastated and even now has no idea where all his belongings are. He has lived in that flat ever since he arrived in London from Corinthians and has naturally bought lots of his own things since then." Aside from the fact that Tevez and his family departed for Argentina a day after the season ended and the flat was reportedly emptied at the same time, and with his full knowledge, the 'story' also fails to mention that the club-owned apartments are intended for short-term use while new recruits search for permanent accommodation. The fact that the Argentine striker finds himself homeless ten months after joining the club is not really an indication that the club no longer want him but more accurately a sign that the player had no intention of sticking around. Obviously, that doesn't make quite so good a story though.

Further comment about the Carlos Tevez situation:
Shop-Soiled 'Academy' Deserves Hammering; Tevez Is Owned By One Man...

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

its less a problem of how much West Ham paid, really. and they dont exactly give you register-printed recipets for the "purchase" of a player. from speaking to a good friend that grew up in Argentina as a Corinthians fan, some light can be shed by revealing this:

registration rights are owned by them team (meaning, for said period of time, said club is only place player can play, short of loan/sales.)

economic rights include endorsements and anything the player brings outside of his stipulated contract to play. that is perfectly legal in Argentina as i was told.


what seems to me to be the real issue here, is how much MU will hand out to WHU for transfer/loan fee, AND whether or not Kia makes a claim to part of that money.

one possible avenue seems that MU will pay WHU for his registration AND pay Kia some fee also. separately, we will see what Kia has to say about WHU breach of contract.

i think SAF will try to take one from Rafa's Mascherano dealings.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure the premier league could find a way to sanction the deal if they wanted to. They have painted themselves into a corner over their original decision not to dock WHUFC points; they KNEW who owned Tevez, regardless of whether WH said they had "torn up" their contract. Can they seriously say they believed that made the slightest bit of difference to who owned the player? NO. No more than I can tell the Halifax that I don't have to pay them any more mortgage payments because I have "torn up" their contract with me.
So now they are moral guardians. They were happy enough to let Mascherano go to Liverpool even though all the same issues applied to that player. Why don't they tackle some of the really dubious issues that are clouding the integrity of the Premier League - like allowing corrupt dictators buy a club with other people's money? Or allowing second rate tycoons to buy a club with other people's money - and landing that club with a mountain of debt into the bargain?

Anonymous said...

If the FAPL were happy that the contract of Mascherano be ripped up that is exactly what should have happended with Tevez's contract who shouldn't have been allowed to play after the tribunals verdict.

Why was Scudamore involved in contacting WHU and trying to bend the rules to allow Tevez to continue playing BEFORE the tribunal had given it's verdict, instead of treating it as a sub judice? That was the position of the FAPL's company secretary so why not also the Chief Exec.?

Why did the FAPL not insist on seeing a written legal document from Joorabchian that gave up his econonmic rights, before given clearance to play? Or why wasn't he called as a witness at both tribunals?

Who at the FAPL interreferd by instructing the so called 'independent disciplinary committee' NOT to immediately cancel Tevez's registration?

The whole affair stinks of corruption.
Why aren't journalists digging into this tawdry scandal and asking these questions?

Justice for SUFC

Anonymous said...

It seems the only way to resolve this issue is to tell more lies and cover up more dodgy dealings.

The FA and PL must either enforce their rules or ditch them altogether. I bet the Blades are watching this with interest.

Anonymous said...

There're many different information in many newspapers. I think MU will sign Tevez with the agreement of both Kia and Hammer.
But the money is Kia's

Anonymous said...

The credibility of the Premier League, the FA, West Ham United, and any and all other parties to this situation is on the line. Most probably, anything short of West Ham being demoted will not put things right.
All future perceived or real questionable situations will no longer have the previously solid credibility of English football as a reassurance to fans and business partners.

Anonymous said...

Moving style. I want to be able to write that way.
Tapety na pulpit
Tapety na pulpit

 

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