West Ham's problems with the Carlos Tevez affair continue after their hopes of avoiding a huge payout to Sheffield United received a setback as they face up to additional legal action from the club's players.
The Blades are demanding €37.75million in compensation for being relegated instead of West Ham, who confirmed they are drafting a "statement of appeal" to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
But CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb admitted the Hammers appeal may not even be heard.
"As things stand, CAS would not be able to hear this case," Reeb told BBC Sport. "We would need agreement from Sheffield United and for Football Association rules to allow an appeal to CAS."
The Blades would be unlikely to give agreement to an appeal that could overturn the decision of the independent tribunal.
And the FA actually has a rule which stipulates there cannot be an appeal from the verdict of an independent tribunal.
Rule K5c states that by signing up to arbitration "the parties shall be deemed to have waived irrevocably any right to appeal, review or any recourse to a court of law".
The independent tribunal, whose verdict has not yet been officially published, ruled that Tevez was not eligible to play at the end of the 2006-07 season and played a key role in West Ham's Premier League survival.
The tribunal will decide on the amount of compensation to be paid at a further hearing, due to be held early next year.
Additionally West Ham could face legal action over the affair from players relegated with Sheffield United.
At least 10 players, who suffered financially after relegation in 2007, have approached lawyers with a view to claiming compensation from the Hammers.
Lawyer Chris Farnell said: "I've been contacted by various players with a view to looking at this claim but at this stage I can say no more."
Past and present players have held discussions with Farnell, of the Manchester-based firm IPS Law. It is understood they could claim for lost earnings running into millions of pounds.
