Hammers could be sent down this week
WEST HAM are set to be found guilty of fielding two ineligible players and hiding incriminating documents from the Premier League, according to evidence and statements seen by the Daily Express.
Guilty verdicts on the two serious charges relating to third-party ownership of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano will be a mere formality at the two-day hearing to be held at the end of this week, with points deduction a real threat and the only question remaining the severity of West Ham’s punishment.
Although an appeal is inevitable if points are docked, the Hammers could be effectively relegated by the outcome of the disciplinary hearing before a ball is kicked in this weekend’s key game against Wigan.
Inside information has been passed on to us about how West Ham held back documentation to the Premier League.
A Premier League source told me: “There are two very serious charges and in my view there is powerful evidence against West Ham, but of course the commission will decide. There is no doubt that the charges are so serious that points deductions cannot be ruled out.”
The Hammers could be effectively relegated by the outcome of the disciplinary hearing before a ball is kicked in this weekend’s key game against Wigan.
At the centre of the unprecedented case are four offshore companies which control the economic rights of the two superstars on behalf of a series of overseas investors.
A source close to the case confessed: “There were documents that the club did not forward to the Premier League regarding the financial investors.”
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore met West Ham’s former chief executive Paul Aldridge at Upton Park in the first week of September and asked him about the impending takeover and also dropped in questions about whether all relevant paperwork had been handed over regarding the complicated transfers of Mascherano and Tevez.
It has now been confirmed to this newspaper that the Premier League were, at the time of the transfers, given only the two standard transfer documents – H2, a form detailing the players’ contracts, and G2, West Ham’s request to register the players.
West Ham also signed a pre-release form for the players, effectively making them free agents even though they were contracted to the club.
This document allowed the players’ owners to move them on in the January transfer window regardless of whether West Ham agreed. Mascherano eventually joined Liverpool.
My source adds: “West Ham could have triggered a clause to buy them, however that was highly unlikely given the set price. At the time both players were priced at a prohibitive £25million each.”
The investors effectively controlled their ability to move clubs – in breach of rule U18 regarding third-party control over team affairs.
The most serious possible breach by West Ham relates to rule U18, which states that: “No club shall enter into a contract which enables any other party to that contract to acquire the ability materially to influence its policies or the performance of its teams.”
They are also looking at whether rule U6 has been broken, a regulation aimed more at powerful agents such as Pini Zahavi. The rule states: “No person may, either directly or indirectly, be involved or have any power to determine or influence the management or administration of more than one club.”
Much has been made of a payment of £339,000 into a Swiss bank account soon after the two Argentinians were signed which West Ham did not disclose to either the FA or Premier League.
But the key issue is that the Premier League commission is unlikely to push the punishment back to next season even if there is an appeal, which could be dire news for the club.
They will use the example of Tottenham, who in 1994 were docked 12 points and thrown out of the FA Cup for making illegal payments to players.
However, Sir Alan Sugar, the White Hart Lane chairman at that time, challenged the penalties and both were eventually overturned by the authorities.
