West Ham United

September 23rd, 2008 filed in Soccer

West Ham United Football Club is an English Football (Soccer) club based in East London. A rival club, Sheffield United have tried multiple times to sue West Ham and the Premier League for damages, over their claim that West Ham had an unfair advantage by playing Argentine star Carlos Tevez when he was not a Premier league registered player. Having argued that they were relegated unfairly at the end of the 2006-2007 season, Sheffield United have now been awarded an unprecedented compensation claim against West Ham for more than £30 million.

Bits of News describes the events that led up to the controversy in far better terms than we here at Cheat or Beat could:

Perhaps the most exciting deadline day was that of 2006 when Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez moved to West Ham. The surprise was not that either had moved that summer but that they had come to West Ham. Rumours had linked both players with clubs as illustrious as Real Madrid, Manchester United and Barcelona. West Ham at that point had just come up from the first division the season before- and were firmly established as a midtable Premiership side with an outside chance of a cup competition- they got to the final of the FA Cup the season before. When they arrived at West Ham, most English football supporters were stunned.

…West Ham survived relegation barely- winning on the last day. They were assisted through the goals of Carlos Tevez who effectively saved the club from going down- scoring five in the last ten games and netting the vital winning goal against United that kept West Ham up and sent Sheffield United to the first division.

…West Ham’s supporters’ case has always been that it was Sheffield United who were relegated and they deserved the position they were in at teh end of the season. That is fair enough- save for the fact that Sheffield United played by the rules. West Ham did not. The position in question is not Sheffield’s but West Ham’s. West Ham should not have had the extra players.

Former Manager of Sheffield United welcomes the verdict :

I’m delighted three independent judges have finally agreed the Sheffield United team I managed should never have been relegated. It’s justice; belated justice, probably inadequate justice because you can’t turn the clock back, but still justice. I’m pleased for everybody involved, especially Kevin McCabe and the board who never gave up.

I gave evidence myself. West Ham’s lawyers used my book against us and picked out passages where I said a referee had cost us here, or a mistake there, but the tribunal obviously agreed with me when I said that Carlos Tevez had been instrumental.

However, Martin Samuel of the Times Online thinks, “West Ham legal issue over Carlos Tevez sets dangerous precedent”

The Right Honorable The Lord Griffiths can predict football matches, you see - right down to knowing how many points a team will get through a season, or in a sequence of matches. And using these special powers, he can factor in results from around England to give a precise monetary value on the worth of those wins. Griffiths is very talented. I bet he nails those ten home-wins coupons every week.

Yesterday, a tribunal led by Griffiths found that one player - Carlos Tévez - had decided the Premier League relegation issue in 2006-07, as fact. Not as opinion. Not with any vague doubt that the hundreds of other footballers, managers and coaches who were involved might have had some impact, too. Not with any pretence to evaluate their presence.

So what do you think about this monumental English Football ruling?
Did West Ham United CHEAT, or did they BEAT Sheffield United?