West Ham will step up their fight against paying Sheffield United compensation by lodging an appeal in the High Court this week. West Ham have also asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to hear the dispute. The grounds on which West Ham can appeal to the High Court are actually quite limited. They have to show that the arbitration panel that decided in favour of the Blades’ claim over the Tevez affair made an error of law or came to incorrect findings of facts.
West Ham will step up their fight against paying Sheffield United compensation by lodging an appeal in the High Court this week. West Ham have also asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to hear the dispute. The grounds on which West Ham can appeal to the High Court are actually quite limited. They have to show that the arbitration panel that decided in favour of the Blades’ claim over the Tevez affair made an error of law or came to incorrect findings of facts. It is unlikely that an error of law occurred and what the ‘facts’ are in a matter like this is something the courts may wish to keep away from. As always with any legal case, quite a lot can depend on which judge hears the case. What the appeal does do is delay the arbitration panel deciding on the amount of compensation. Sheffield United have now upped their claim to £50m to take account of a second year outside the Premiership, but this overlooks the fact that they could have secured promotion by their own efforts on the pitch. A cynical interpretation would be that if they ask for £50m, they might end up with £25m.
At the Boleyn Ground, to give it its proper name, attempts to maintain an atmosphere of outward calm have not really succeded, suggesting a parallel with Anne Boleyn as she prepared for what became a delayed execution. With the Icelandic economy effectively bankrupt and the IMF in Reykjavik, a fire sale of national assets has been declared, although whether West Ham’s debt of £40m is an asset is another matter. The club is believed to be up for sale, and someone planted a story in The Grauniad today which suggested that Zabeel Investments were going to transfer their interest from Charlton to West Ham. This was promptly denied by the Dubai investors and it looks as if the deal for the Addicks might be completed by the weekend. West Ham is a sufficiently attractive prospect for someone to buy it particularly if the price is right.