Soccer:Carlos Tevez and his representatives were today assessing their options after Manchester City hit the player with a huge fine for misconduct last night. City found the Argentinian guilty of five breaches of contract after concluding he had effectively refused to play during last month's Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich.
As a result he has been fined four weeks’ wages - a figure thought to be in the region of €1 million - and warned as to his future conduct. It is thought the 27-year-old will appeal but, with two weeks to confirm his intentions, an announcement will not be rushed.
It is also understood Tevez and his representatives are considering suing City manager Roberto Mancini for defamation of character over his immediate post-match interviews.
Mancini accused Tevez of refusing to come on as a second-half substitute during the game at the Allianz Arena and added that he would be “finished” at the club as a consequence. Tevez has vehemently denied that accusation, insisting he only refused to warm up.
With Tevez’s camp claiming City’s charge referred to a failure to resume warming up rather than a refusal to play, they therefore believe they could have a legal case. City’s view appears markedly different with the club taking a hard line over the matter.
City have conducted a “detailed investigation” into what occurred on the bench on September 27th and are confident of their position. It is understood they believe Tevez’s actions were pre-meditated, coming six days after he was formally told he had forfeited potential loyalty payments of €6.5 million by making two transfer requests.
Tevez first asked to leave last December, a request that was later withdrawn, but tried to engineer another move in the summer. City agreed to try to push through what they considered a cut-price €45 million sale to Brazilian club Corinthians on the understanding that if it broke down, his City contract would not be renegotiated.
The deal did collapse and Tevez, previously the team’s inspiration, found himself down the pecking order at City when he returned from his summer break. Munich was the sixth time this season Tevez had been named on the bench and City believe all this contributed to his decision not to co-operate when Mancini wanted to put him on.
Tevez’s next move is likely to be in announcing his intentions with regards to an appeal. An appeal hearing would then be scheduled with City’s board of directors. Should another ruling go against Tevez, he could appeal again to the Premier League.
