Hammers charged by Premier League
Tevez and Mascherano joined West Ham at the end of August
The Premier League has charged West Ham with breaching their rules
in relation to the signings of Argentine duo Carlos Tevez and
Javier Mascherano in August.
Tevez and Mascherano joined the club in August, but their
registration with third party Media Sports Investment may have
broken Premier League regulations.
The Premiership strugglers, who are deep in the relegation zone,
could be deducted points if found guilty.
The Hammers have announced they will "vigorously defend"
themselves.
A points deduction would almost certainly condemn West Ham to the
Championship - they currently sit 19th in the table, nine points
adrift of safety.
Tevez and Mascherano joined West Ham on 31 August from Brazilian
side Corinthians, but the deal was brokered by MSI, who owned the
rights to the two players.
The Hammers reportedly failed to hand over vital documentation to
the Premier League and have been charged under rule U18 concerning
the influence of third-party ownership.
But the club released a statement on Friday, which read: "In light
of the legal advice received, the club will vigorously defend
itself against the charge and provide a detailed response as
requested by the Premier League."
Midfielder Mascherano, who made seven appearances for West Ham, has
since left Upton Park for Liverpool.
While striker Tevez has played 13 games for the Hammers, but is yet
to score.
The Premier League said in a statement: "It is the board's
complaint that there were agreements in relation to both these
transfers that enabled third parties to acquire the ability
materially to influence the club's policies and/or the performance
of its teams in League matches and/or the competitions set out in
Rule E10.
"The board's view is this constitutes a breach of rule U18.
"Furthermore at the time of the transfer agreements for both Carlos
Tevez and Javier Mascherano, and until 24 January 2007, West Ham
failed to disclose the third party agreements to the Premier League
and/or deliberately withheld these agreements from the Premier
League.
"The board's view is this constitutes a breach of rule B13, which
states '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'.
"West Ham United has 14 days within which to respond to these
charges."
AFC Wimbledon are currently appealing an 18-point deduction for
fielding an ineligible player in the Ryman Premier Division.
Those points were accrued in the 11 games which figured midfielder
Jermaine Darlington, who did not have international
clearance.
West Ham have only picked up five points in games featuring Tevez
or Mascherano.