West Ham must be close to bankruptcy if this case goes against, which is surely must. If they signed a contract that happened to be in breach of Premiership rules that is their problem. The previous management/ownership may be liable, but do not have this kind of money. The agreement was torn up by the current management/ownership.

Man U will never paid £30M for Tevez, they only wanted him because they could pay a 'rent' on the asset (Tevez), thus paying out of cashflow.

Bryan McGrath, Weston-Super-Mare,

The new owners at WHU have made an incredible mess of most of their business so far. Why would we expect a different mindset around Tevezgate now???

Last seasons players were lambasted for being the "baby bentley brigade". They have since bought in certain players who hardly go to change that opinion.

They also appear to have torn up any pay structure they had in place before. Nothing like a bit of stabity at a club notorious for under achieving.

I admire Darren Bent for turning down a club based on £££££ and choosing a club that are stable and offer a football proposal not just a financial one.

West Ham as relegation flirters again? They are 8/1 on some sites. Looks like easy money to me.

James, Griffin, UK

do we know whether west ham actually paid anything forTevez and Mascherano? If they didnt then they can hardly expect to make a huge profit. In anycase the FA can insist till the cows come home that any monies must go to whu who will eventually agree and then quietly pass on to Joorabchian whatever amount theyagree between them.

If the high court rules that whu were in breach of contract with joorabchian then the FA have to reverse their decision not to impose a points deduction and must declare that all whu's results thereafter are null and void. result: whu change places with sheff u immediately. Tevez and Mascherano no longer have a club and therefore cannot be transferred or loaned to any English club.

arthur brown, london,

To Gerry, Dubin. There are no rules that state that points should be deducted for the particular offence that West Ham committed. So why are you sorry for the clubs that went down? They failed to gain enough points and were relegated fair and square. And besides, for most of the season Tevez was ineffective, and the only goal he scored which affected the result (win, lose, draw) of a match was against Man Utd. And had he not scored and West Ham had only drawn, they would've stayed up anyway! The worrying thing for West Ham and the PL now is that if the High Court rules that MSI/JSI do indeed hold Tevez's economic rights (ie West Ham's tearing up of the MSI/JSI contract was illegal) an even bigger, nastier mess will ensue. IMHO if West Ham's star striker Ashton hadn't been crocked on international duty, ruling him out for the entire season, they wouldn't have signed Tevez in the first place.

Damien, Tokyo,

I don't understand how West Ham can unilaterally teminate a binding contract. You can't just tear up an agreement, you have to buy your way out of it. The FA seems to be doing a pontius pilate here.

It was perfectly obvious the deals were dodgy back in September 2006. Why did the big clubs pull out otherwise? But it took the Mascherano transfer to Liverpool to spur the FA into action and then it took them months to hear the case, effectively preventing the deduction of points because the relegation struggle was at its climax.

I don't suspect corruption, just those good old FA traits, incompetence and weakness.

al, london,

I said at the time I did not understand how West Ham taking the decision to "rip up" the agreement between themselves and MSI made it "ok" for Tevez to continue playing. No one party can decide to terminate an agreement and the Premier League were unbelievably stupid in giving West Ham this option to allow the player to continue playing. Does this mean that we can write to our banks, mortgage companies etc saying we "rip up" any agreement and walk off into the sunset?! I think not ... How come I as an ordinary member of the public I could see this was a problem but the legal minds employed by West Ham and the Premier League apparently could not? What an unholy mess. Apparently ManU are trying to take Tevez on a similar deal to that which took Mascherano to Liverpool. If that is the case then who got/is getting the money for Mascherano? Isn't the Premier League being allowed to "have their cake and eat it" so they can cover their own incompetence?

Gen, London,

Interesting post from Gerry Fleming, Dublin, Ireland. Perhaps he could quote the rule which states that a club should be deducted points for this "offence"

Tony, London, England

Looks like they should have asked the lawyers months ago,

West Ham should be relegated, they have broken so many rules of the FA. The FA will not do anything now as the FA allowed West Ham to walk all over them 6 months ago.

From the little info here I would have to say West Ham have lost, if they were the ones who tore up the contract without an agreement by the other party then the agreement will still stand. As for the FA, they could not organize the piss up never mind running a football organisation. Sack the lot of them?

John, Ingolstadt,

If the court rules for West Ham this is great news. All I will have to do is rip up my mortgage contract and my house will be all mine to sell!

A. Robson, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

When the Premier League flagged up the Tevez affair, West Ham were caught out. They chose to:-

1. Terminate the 3rd party agreement, (unilaterally or with the 3rd party's consent?), so as to play Tevez, as they were desperate for his services (but they are likely to have known the 3rd party would want his share of the spoils aka his economic rights!);

Rather than,

2. Dispense with the services of Tevez all together (and inevitably sink into the Championships) to avoid further controversy .

As it is they chose route 1 and as Tevez now wants out to Man U, the 3rd party has come calling for his pound of flesh, but the Premier League says nay, all transfer monies must go to West Ham.

Ladies and Gentlemen, English Contract law at the High Court!
Someone is gonna lose big time.

George William Okidi, London, UK

Does Carlos Tevez not have the right to just simply fire Kia Joorabchian as his agent, as Joorabchian is hardly acting in Tevez's interest with his allegations and legal wrangling.

Sean, Dublin,

Surely Joorabchian should have presented this information during the PL investigation into Tevez's eligibility to play for West Ham?

Shef Utd are going to feel very hard done by, and the Premier League should feel very stupid, should the legal process reveal that West Ham were in fact in contravention to the rules all along!!

Dave Rayner, Chesham,

If West Ham did unilaterally tear up the Tevez contract, which seems likely, as the only way to get out of a points deduction and certain relegation; their only course of action seems to be to string this process out until after the start of the new season when it will be too late to relegate them retrospectivley.

steve, stockport,

Typical of whats happing to football. why can they not just let the lad play football.please get the likes of Joorabchian out of our great game.

david joy, brighton,

'I feel sorry for the 3 clubs that went down.West Ham should have being deducted the points as per league rules and this sorry mess would never have happened.'

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Firstly, there are no league rules that say that points should have been deducted.
Secondly, even if there had been, how many points? 1, 2, 3 or how about exactly enough, maybe applied in retrospect, to relegate West Ham?

Steve L, Cambridge,

A plague on all your houses.

abritincanada, Calgary,

This is a mess that the Premier League also have to put their hands up to. It is their rules, not any laws, that West Ham were in breach of. No-one has done anything that is illegal, yet. Sadly West Ham cannot unilaterally pull out of a contract so what they did, and with the blessing of the Premier league was dishonest, but not at the time illegal as they had not tried to avoind the terms of the contract. This whole problem would not be an issue in any other country as they do not have these 3rd party ownership rules.
To be fair the whole contreversy over 3rd party ownership, with this and with loans deals, shows what an incompetent governing body the Premier League is. Maybe they should be bought up on charges of bringing the game into disrepute. Although as the governing body can they sue themselves?
Can't we just get on with things, it's only football? Oh. I got that wrong, it's only money

John, London, UK

If MSI win this case does that leave the door open for Sheff Utd's claim for compensation? Presumably reinstatement is out of the question now?

Chris, Milan, Italy

You'd still have the same problem. Tevez would have played just the same in his last three games...and Man U would still want to buy him, as he's a good player. Tevez should just be sent packing...

Ben, Cambridge,

"Another fine mess you've got me into, Stanley!!"

Bill , Sydney, Oz

I would like to know what price did West Ham pay for Tevez?,or did they really tear up the infamous agreement.I feel sorry for the 3 clubs that went down.West Ham should have being deducted the points as per league rules and this sorry mess would never have happened.

Gerry Fleming, Dublin, ireland