The latest Tevez twist - West Ham
'agreed' to a £100,000 pay-off for the Argentine.
A West Ham document, said to accept that they would receive just
£100,000 from Kia Joorabchian for the sale of Carlos Tevez this
summer, was the central issue as a High Court preliminary hearing
investigated the wrangle over the player's registration
yesterday.
Joorabchian's lawyers are sure this previously undisclosed contract
amendment for Manchester United target Tevez, drawn up by Hammers
chairman Eggert Magnusson and signed by his deputy-chief executive
Scott Duxbury, on December 1, will win them the case as Joorabchian
is suing West Ham for breach of contract in a bid to release the
registration of Tevez.
West Ham, however, insist that the document was not counter-signed
by Tevez, remained "unexecuted" and had been seen by the
independent commission which investigated the deal for the Premier
League.
It was among the contracts unilaterally terminated by West Ham to
end the third party influence of Joorabchian's company MSI over
Tevez after the commission fined the club £5.5million in April.
Joorabchian claims that he and his companies own the economic
rights to Tevez, 23, while West Ham claim they are the true
'owners' as they hold his registration. Tevez, currently in his
native Argentina, will be called to give evidence by Joorabchian's
lawyers, who also offered to provide handwriting experts to support
their claims.
Magnusson, Duxbury and Premier League chairman Richard Scudamore
are also expected to be witnesses if the case makes it to court. Mr
Justice Blackburne agreed to fast-track the case and schedule the
three-day hearing from August 22 in order to complete it before the
transfer deadline, although West Ham remain keen to settle the
matter out of court.
Either way, the interpretation of the document dated December 1
looks set to be a crucial. It was drawn up by Magnusson, who
completed his takeover in November, to amend the original contract
signed in August when Tevez joined from Corinthians. West Ham's new
Icelandic owner was apparently uncomfortable with the nature of the
deal, and the player's form, so he changed the contract to include
a clause that Joorabchian must find Tevez another club in the
summer and that Magnusson agreed to accept a token £100,000
fee.
The document was sent to MSI for Tevez to counter-sign but,
according to West Ham, was not returned. MSI, however, claim Tevez
did sign it, that it was returned and they have offered to provide
a handwriting expert to verify the signature. A copy of the
contract minus the Tevez signature was submitted to the independent
commission by the Hammers to be considered as evidence.
This will probably be enough to stop the Premier League from
re-opening an investigation into Magnusson, who has always leant
heavily on this deal being struck by his predecessor Terry Brown.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson remained resolute after
learning he may be kept waiting almost another month to complete
the protracted signing of Tevez.
With the transfer window closing at the end of August, Ferguson
admitted contingency plans were being drawn up in case any
judgement went against them, but was adamant they would not have to
be used. Mindful that Tevez has declared his eagerness to join
United and that a compromise could be struck by Joorabchian and
West Ham, Ferguson said: "At least we know there will be a final
decision at the High Court and if something happens before then, so
much the better. We'd welcome that and I believe it would suit
everyone. It has dragged on and it can be frustrating, but I am
confident Tevez will be our player and so is our chief executive
David Gill."