SOCCER:West Ham United are set to pick up a multimillion-pound windfall if they sell Carlos Tevez this summer in a situation that is bound to infuriate the "gang of four" clubs who continue to contest the striker's right to play in the Premiership.

On a day that the Tevez affair took on an international angle with the presidents of both Fifa and Uefa stepping in to the dispute, it emerged that, under the terms of his four-year playing contract, only West Ham will benefit from Tevez' sale.

Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini would doubtless be dismayed that the prospect of yet another legal wrangle has now been raised; this time between the club and the offshore companies that brought Tevez to Upton Park.

This is because the only document relating to West Ham that remains legally enforceable from the complicated sheaf of paperwork that dictated the terms of Tevez' arrival in London last August is the forward's playing contract. That means he is West Ham's player and that the club alone would be due any fee from his sale.

The offshore companies are understood to retain commercial contracts with the Argentinian player. These would permit the companies to sue for damages in a commercial court if West Ham refused to pay them a consideration for any transfer fee they received - and with Real Madrid linked with a £30-million bid for Tevez, that could be considerable.

Such contracts between the player and third-party companies are perfectly legal under the Premier League rule U18 that led to £3 million of the £5.5 million fines West Ham were punished with last month. This is because the rule governs the conduct of clubs, not players.

In any case, third-party contracts governing players' image rights and so-called "escape clauses" allowing certain bids to trigger a player's release are commonplace in the Premiership. Beyond national borders, the involvement of third-party companies in player ownership is widespread.

Blatter yesterday announced Fifa's intention to scrutinise the verdict of the independent commission that found West Ham guilty of having breached Premier League rules over their signing of Tevez.

The Fifa president appeared willing to listen to the complaints of the "gang of four" clubs - Sheffield United, Charlton Athletic, Fulham and Wigan Athletic - who are aggrieved that West Ham were not docked the points that could have condemned them to relegation.

"We will look at this - and not only if we are asked, we will do it anyway," said Blatter.

"We will ask for the file once it has been decided how and why the decision was made. If we feel something was wrong in this decision then we have to open our file."

The Premier League responded in a statement: "We have implemented our rulebook and processes to the letter in this matter and we are more than happy to give Fifa any assurances or explanations they need."

Blatter's Uefa counterpart, Platini, said that although Fifa is the international arbiter of player transfers, there are no regulations governing third-party ownership of players. "When you go to pick players from South America, they are not from the same system, mentality or morality," said Platini. "In many countries all over the world, players belong to companies or agents rather than clubs.

"The Fifa congress has to put laws in place so that when a club is buying a player, they have to buy that player from one club and not from companies or individuals."

The Premier League took the lead on the issue with its introduction of rule U18, which was the result of "months" of debate according to one Premiership chief executive, and the football world has only latterly woken up to what the league considers a "disturbing development".

Meanwhile, Sam Allardyce slipped into the Newcastle United hotseat and swiftly revealed his intention to resolve Michael Owen's situation as a matter of urgency.

The 52-year-old was unveiled as Glenn Roeder's successor yesterday afternoon after signing a three-year contract to inherit a job which has assumed the appearance of the proverbial poisoned chalice in recent years.

He did so against the backdrop of intense speculation over the £17 million England striker's future on Tyneside amid claims he could leave for as little as £9 million after managing just 14 appearances for the club in two years.

Allardyce said: "At the end of the day, I do not know, I have not spoken to Michael. I can only speculate on the speculation.

"Until I get the chance to speak to him, I do not really know what he is thinking. I will speak to Michael on the phone in the near future - and any other player who was not there today - and take it from there."

Asked further about Owen and £10 million strike-partner Obafemi Martins, who went AWOL after claiming to be injured ahead of the season's finale at Watford on Sunday, Allardyce added: "You would not want to lose your leading goalscorers, would you?"