Addicks may sue Irons
Five clubs including Charlton are reportedly ready to take legal action against the Premier League following their decision to fine West Ham £5.5m for fielding ineligible players. According to The Daily Mail, five of the Hammers' relegation rivals - Fulham, Sheffield United, Charlton, Wigan and Middlesbrough - are 'angry' that the Hammers avoided a points deduction for playing Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano and 'are set to mount a legal challenge'.
Following Dave Whelan's public complaints about the verdict delivered by the league's independent commission on Friday, Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore travelled to Wigan yesterday in an attempt to pacify the Latics' chairman.
However, the Mail quotes a 'senior official at one of the clubs' warning: 'It is within the Premier League rules to challenge the decision and we will be looking at it. They said it was a serious breach of rule U18 and, according to the rules, that should carry a points deduction.'
I think this could be as big a mistake as the attempt to challenge the Sankofa suspension, with the main beneficiaries being lawyers who will collect the substantial fees involved.
I know from my work with lawyers that there are some decisions that courts are very reluctant to take on and want to get rid of as soon as possible (a subject we were discussing in another context only last week). The courts are unlikely to want to pursue this very far and are likely to say that any rule is subject to an element of discretion in its application.
Following Dave Whelan's public complaints about the verdict delivered by the league's independent commission on Friday, Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore travelled to Wigan yesterday in an attempt to pacify the Latics' chairman.
However, the Mail quotes a 'senior official at one of the clubs' warning: 'It is within the Premier League rules to challenge the decision and we will be looking at it. They said it was a serious breach of rule U18 and, according to the rules, that should carry a points deduction.'
I think this could be as big a mistake as the attempt to challenge the Sankofa suspension, with the main beneficiaries being lawyers who will collect the substantial fees involved.
I know from my work with lawyers that there are some decisions that courts are very reluctant to take on and want to get rid of as soon as possible (a subject we were discussing in another context only last week). The courts are unlikely to want to pursue this very far and are likely to say that any rule is subject to an element of discretion in its application.
posted by Wyn Grant at 12:48 PM
2 Comments:
We should be careful what we wish for. They might make us replay our game against West Ham (but without Tevez)!
I would agree that the chances of success (either West Ham being docked points after all or compensation) are slim. But, as long as the advice is that there is some chance of success, given the stakes I think we have no choice but to participate in any coordinated action with other relegation-threatened teams or to go it alone in the event that we finish third-bottom and below West Ham. Money handed over to the legal team is a necessary evil.
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