Richard Scudamore, the chief executive of the FA Premier League, has sent an explanatory letter to all 20 Barclays Premiership clubs in an attempt to bring the Carlos Tévez controversy to a close, but such hopes appeared forlorn last night in the light of a contribution from Sepp Blatter.

The Fifa president said that the sport’s world governing body is monitoring the situation and could mount an investigation into the Argentina striker’s stay at West Ham United. The club were fined £5.5 million last month for irregularities over the signings of Tévez and Javier Mascherano but escaped a points deduction that would have relegated them from the Premiership.

Blatter’s words should be treated with caution, with Fifa sources insisting that they do not intend to challenge the authority of the Premier League’s independent commission. Sheffield United, who were relegated on Sunday, are are considering legal action.

“We will look at this,” Blatter said. “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.” Blatter went on to clear the initial transfers of Tévez and Mascherano from Corinthians to West Ham, adding that both clubs had complied with international transfer regulations. “According to our files, the transfer of Tévez was done correctly according to the international transfer of players,” he said.

Mascherano, meanwhile, has expressed delight at West Ham’s survival in the Premiership. “I’m very happy because over the six months that I was there my teammates treated me very well,” the Liverpool midfield player said.