West Ham fined £5.5m - but escape a points deduction

14 April 2012

West Ham have been hit by a record £5.5million fine over the signings of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

However, because the club pleaded guilty to the two breaches of Premier League regulations, they were not given a points deduction by the League's independent commission.

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Problems: Tevez and Mascherano

Following the hearing in London, the three-man commission said that because of concerns over the third-party ownership of Tevez his contract should be terminated.

That raised fears the Argentina striker would be ruled out of his club's fight for Premiership survival.

However, West Ham have been able to alter his contract to the satisfaction of the Premier League.

A West Ham source said: "We have clarified the position with the Premier League, who are now happy for Carlos Tevez to carry on playing for us."

The transfers happened in August - three months before a takeover of the club by an Icelandic consortium.

Following confirmation of the massive fine, chairman Eggert Magnusson is considering suing his predecessor Terry Brown and former managing director Paul Aldridge, who negotiated the deals.

Aldridge was singled out by the commission for having lied to Premiership chief Richard Scudamore with regard to a breach of rule B13, concerning conduct of clubs in their dealings with the league.

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Feeling the pain: West Ham chief Eggert Magnusson leaves the hearing on Friday

The report said: "There are three distinct elements to this breach. First, the failure to disclose the contracts; irrespective of the inquiry by the FAPL [Premier League], these contracts should have gone to them. Secondly, Mr [Scott] Duxbury [now West Ham's deputy chief executive] on any view, misled Ms Purdon [Premier League company secretary]. Thirdly, Mr Aldridge misled Mr Scudamore."

Tevez moved to Upton Park from Corinthians thanks to businessman Kia Joorabchian.

At the time, it was believed Tevez was part-owned by Media Sports Investment, whom the Iranian used to own, and that they controlled his future.

Mascherano was subsequently transferred to Liverpool and has been playing in both the Premiership and the Champions League after he was cleared by the Football Association to transfer to Anfield.

For the breach of rule U18, relating to thirdparty ownership of players, West Ham were fined £2.5m and for the breach of rule B13 they were hit with a £3m punishment.

In total, it is three times the previous record fine of £1.5m given to Tottenham in 1994 for making irregular payments to players.

The Premier League said today: "We fully respect the commission's decision in the West Ham case and the detailed judgement will provide further clarity for all clubs."

West Ham chairman Magnusson refused to comment on leaving the hearing but the club issued a statement saying they were relieved that their future in the Premiership will be decided on the pitch.

West Ham said: "The club regret the fact they fell foul of the regulations, but the new owners of the club now want to focus on remaining in the Premiership.

"The club will reflect on the financial penalty and will take advice before commenting on the possibility of an appeal or any further steps that might be taken."

West Ham were accused of being in breach of two Premier League rules, U18 and B13, in respect of the deals which brought the two Argentines to Upton Park.

It was alleged the deals for both players were in breach of rule U18 which states "no club shall enter into a contract which enables any other party to that contract to acquire the ability materially to influence its policies and/or the performance of its team."

West Ham were also accused of breaching rule B13 which states that "in all matters and transactions relating to the League, each club shall behave towards each other club and the League with the utmost good faith."

The Premier League were particularly unhappy that relevant paperwork regarding the loan agreements for both players was not presented to them until last January by the club's financial director, Nick Igoe.

Wigan, who are at home to West Ham tomorrow, will be unhappy at the verdict, particularly if they are relegated and the Hammers stay up.

When the investigation was launched back in February, Wigan chairman Dave Whelan said: "If anyone has broken the rules they should have points deducted."

Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballer's Association, believes West Ham escaped a points deduction today because of their predicament.

He added: "Fans of other clubs may not be [happy with the verdict] but if you need to stay in a division because another club has been deducted points it's not the sporting ethos you would want. I can't believe anyone would want to stay up that way."

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