West Ham's last-ditch fight in their legal battle against Sheffield United over the Carlos Tevez affair will continue in the High Court tomorrow. The Blades are seeking a permanent injunction to prevent West Ham taking an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.
No decision was taken today and the private hearing will continue tomorrow.
If Sheffield United are successful, it would mean the end of the road for West Ham's legal challenge and the club would have to face up to a hefty compensation bill — the Blades are claiming up to £50million.
That would also have implications for the price that Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson can expect if he decides to sell the club.
An independent arbitration panel ruled in September that Tevez should not have been permitted to play in the final matches of the 2006-07 season when the Argentina striker helped West Ham avoid relegation.
West Ham have always argued that they had already been punished by the Premier League — they were fined £5.5million — and were merely following league instructions.
The arbitration panel decided however that the Hammers had not abided by their pledge to end all third-party agreements in relation to Tevez and found in favour of Sheffield United.
West Ham have since tried to appeal to CAS, but have so far been unable to secure a decision that the court has the jurisdiction to hear the case.
If West Ham lose the High Court ruling, their lawyers will seek to minimize damages by scrutinising every detail of Sheffield United's compensation claim. It would be unlikely that a final figure would be decided before February.
