West Ham pledge to seek out-of-court Tevez settlement

zocoss SG

LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) - West Ham United will continue to seek an out-of-court settlement with Argentine forward Carlos Tevez's representatives after they started legal proceedings against the London club. In a statement on their Web site on Tuesday, the Premier League club said that if they failed to achieve an out-of-court agreement with all parties involved, then they would present a robust case to the High Court on August 22.

Tevez's representative Kia Joorabchian, who claims that he and his companies own the economic rights to Tevez, 23, applied to the High Court after serving a writ on West Ham in a bid to ease his proposed transfer to Manchester United.

West Ham claim they are the true 'owners' of Tevez as they hold his registration as a player after recruiting him in a complex deal last year. "West Ham United will continue to work on achieving an out-of-court settlement on the issues relating to Carlos Tevez," the club said.

"However, if a settlement, to be agreed by all parties, is not possible then the Club will present a very robust legal case to the High Court if the matter comes before the court on August 22nd."

Tevez's move to the Premier League champions has stalled over the question of who should be paid that fee, estimated by the British media to be worth up to 30 million pounds ($61.73 million).

zocoss SG

I don't know how West Ham can defend themselves when it is obvious that Tevez and Mascherano were not their players to start with... They probably didn't pay a transfer fee for them cos they couldn't afford to last season... That was why Liverpool held discussion with Joorabchian's companies MSI and Just Sports Inc. when they bought Mascherano in Jan...

I guess should this case does go to court, a lot of secrets could be expose as Joorabchian probably have lots of documents that could get WH into serious trouble and Sheff United will be just to happy to try their luck again with the new evidence surfacing... Not a nice time to be at WH... cos in the front they have to project a tough talking bunch of guys and behind the scenes they are trying desparately hard to settle it without getting expose too much. It seems like they are stuck in the Middle between the premier league and Joorabchian's companies MSI... Mr. Green

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West Ham tell court Tevez contract is not authentic

The Carlos Tevez saga took a dramatic twist in the high court yesterday when West Ham United's lawyers challenged the authenticity of a document presented by Media Sports Investment and Just Sports Inc. The document, filed at a depositions hearing, was a contract drawn up on December 1 at the insistence of the West Ham chairman, Eggert Magnusson. It stated that on July 1 Tevez would be released from the club and stipulated that, if he remained at Upton Park, MSI-JSI would have to make payments that would effectively cover his wages.

MSI-JSI consider the document central to their breach-of-contract case against the Hammers, in which they demand that Tevez be freed from his obligations with West Ham and permitted to move to Manchester United. The hearing will take place over three days from August 22. West Ham say the document was rescinded and its terms were never executed because it was not countersigned by Tevez. But the copy of the document filed at yesterday's hearing was furnished with dates and signatures, prompting West Ham's challenge over its authenticity.

MSI-JSI interpret this as a delaying tactic but it is believed the club's lawyers are preparing to call a graphologist and forensic experts at the hearing. MSI-JSI's counsel will respond by calling Tevez, Magnusson and the West Ham chief executive, Scott Duxbury, to give evidence under oath.

The debate about the authenticity of the document might most simply be settled by the Premier League's chief executive, Richard Scudamore, whose organisation received a copy before a disciplinary commission hearing in April. Scudamore is also set to be subpoenaed by the offshore companies, which are fronted by Kia Joorabchian.

West Ham hope a negotiated settlement can be achieved before August 22. However, MSI-JSI have not received the proposed terms of any compromise agreement because these must first be approved by the Premier League.

That may prove difficult because the league is holding the club to their undertakings in May. This was when they informed the league they had torn up all third-party contracts relating to Tevez and MSI-JSI.

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TEVEZ MAY GO FOR FREE

The Premier League are to drop their insistence on a meaningful transfer fee being paid to West Ham for Carlos Tevez if the club loses their High Court battle with the players owners. And last night, a senior League source admitted the Hammers were lucky to be in the Premier League as new doubts were expressed about the clubs disclosure of their contracts with Tevez to the original Premier League commission.

The Premier League will nod through the transfer to Manchester United immediately if West Ham are served with an injunction preventing them blocking his transfer to Old Trafford. The Leagues compromised position will add weight to the rush for an out-of-court settlement before the injunction is heard on August 22. And it could mean West Ham get no fee whatsoever from United, and just a £100,000 facility fee from Kia Joorabchian and the owners Media Sports Investment and Just Sport Inc.

Any move in this direction will fan Sheffield Uniteds fury after their relegation. The Premier League commission ended with the Hammers found guilty of breaking the rules on third-party influence in team affairs, and not acting in good faith. But they were fined £5.5million rather than docked points, a decision that proved crucial to avoiding relegation.

Last night, Daily Express sources close to the Tevez camp insisted that not all the documents relating to Tevezs contract were handed over to the tribunal. That could prove crucial as the commissions reasoning in not docking points was based partly on the assumption that it would have been unfair on the new owners. But revelations in the High Court relating to a revised December 1 contract many weeks after the new regime took control have potentially blown apart that argument.

While it is true that the initial December 1 documents were registered with the Premier League, the fully signed contracts were not. As the Daily Express source said: We are 99.9 per cent certain that those contracts, signed and countersigned, were not submitted to the Premier League. My understanding is that Joorabchians camp were not contacted by the Premier League and that the December 1 amendments to the third-party agreements were countersigned, first 12 days later and then completed three and a half weeks later and were signed immediately by Tevez himself.

This will be their answer to claims by West Ham sources that Tevez only recently signed this December 1 amendment. The Express source says: If that injunction is upheld then there will be zero fee to West Ham. West Ham believe that the December 1 contract can be contested, and insist that they complied with full disclosure to the Premier League tribunal on all relevant documents.