Sheffield United take complaint to the High Court

After saying it would not appeal to the High Court, English Sheffield United has done precisely that, with a 13 July hearing set.

With the appeals panel ruling not going Sheffield United's way this week, the club has moved the confrontation with the Premier League into the legal arena.

Sheffield United was relegated at the expense of West Ham. The latter club had bent the rules on third-party documentation while signing Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, and was punished with a hefty fine, but no points deduction. With the original hearing board citing the lateness of the season and fan reaction as reasons for no points penalty, West Ham was able to barely stay in the Premier League.

Sheffield United was relegated and made an appeal. That board could not reverse the West Ham punishment, but could have ordered a new hearing.

Now, Sheffield United is contesting that the arbitration panel made an "error in law" by not ordering a new hearing. Promotion to the Premier League might not be in the cards, but the club is seeking GBP 50 million in compensation.

"I still believe Sheffield United have a legal case that can now be taken from what I loosely term the sporting courts to the commercial courts," said Sheffield United chairman Kevin McCabe. "If you say that the Championship play-off game is worth GBP 60 million, and Sheffield United's attendance last year was 31,000, with full hospitality boxes and restaurants and broadcasting income, you would say compensation is around GBP 50 million."

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.