Sheffield United will today ask for permission to appeal against the decision of an arbitration panel to dismiss their claims over the Carlos Tévez affair. The Yorkshire club will need to prove to the High Court that there was an error of law in the original decision and that that caused direct serious injustice. If an appeal is granted, the case could be heard today.

The club were told by an arbitration panel last week that it would probably have deducted points from West Ham United for breaching Premier League rules in the transfer of Tévez and Javier Mascherano, another Argentinian, had it sat in judgment originally.

Sheffield United claim that the arbitration panel refused to analyse the seven reasons given by the Premier League commission for fining West Ham £5.5 million in April, rather than deducting points. The club feel some of those reasons were incorrect. In particular, they question why the commission felt justified to take into account the feelings of West Ham players and supporters and not the effect on fans from other clubs.

The Premier League remains confident that the High Court will justify its handling of the affair. It maintains that the contract between West Ham and Kia Joorabchian, who owns the economic rights to Tévez, was terminated. Joorabchian disputes that.

Some legal experts have said that the chances of overturning the commission’s verdict are remote, but that they may have a better chance of success in claiming that the Premier League should not have allowed Tévez to play in the final three match-es of the season. Sheffield United have asked Joorabchian to hand over paper-work relating to the transfer of the forward because it may help their case. West Ham claim that all documents are already with the Premier League.

“Don’t discount what might happen in the next few days,” Kevin McCabe, the Sheffield United plc chairman, said. “This issue is not finished as far as we are concerned. It is ludicrous. Do you expect a company that owns the economic rights to Carlos Tévez and was willing to pay £15 million to get them from River Plate to walk away with nothing from his transfer to Manchester United? And do West Ham United expect them to get noth-ing? We’ve been digging up information that will be embarrassing for the Premier League to answer. Whether that means we have to take our place in the Championship, I don’t know.”

Joorabchian has written to the FA claiming Tévez is no longer under contract to West Ham and therefore able to sign for Manchester United. The FA has written to West Ham to seek clarification. West Ham claim that he is under contract for three years and that they hold his registration.