Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, will defy mounting criticism and refuse to stand down, despite external pressure brought about by the verdict of an FA independent tribunal over the Carlos Tévez affair.

Documentation of the full hearing of the three-man committee chaired by Lord Griffiths had not been sent by the FA to the Premier League yesterday, despite being made available to Sheffield United and West Ham United on Friday, with details leaked to the national media.

Scudamore is confident that the actions of the League will be vindicated by the report and, while he has not ruled out reopening the investigation into the conduct of Scott Duxbury, the West Ham chief executive, he is adamant that his own position should not be under threat if the tribunal reports that the initial Tévez hearing was handled properly.

West Ham engaged the services yesterday of Maurice Watkins, a solicitor and director of Manchester United, who will provide legal advice on an appeal against the FA tribunal, which found in favour of Sheffield United and could award damages against West Ham for misleading the Premier League over contractual arrangements involving Tévez.

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Sheffield United have estimated the cost to be £30million and West Ham believe that Watkins's dealings with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) can only help their case. Watkins helped to untangle the complex transfer of Tévez from West Ham to Manchester United last year. The East London club have said that they will appeal to the court in Lausanne, Switzerland, which will hold a hearing in the next few weeks to decide whether it should rule on the case.

West Ham believe that they should not be punished twice for the same charge. “We do not accept that one player's contribution can be placed over that of the team as a whole, nor used as the basis for judging the results of a 38-game season,” West Ham said in a statement.

The FA tribunal found that Tévez's performances kept West Ham in the Premier League at the expense of Sheffield United, which has prompted some, including Dave Whelan, the Wigan Athletic chairman, to call for moves to be made against Scudamore. Whelan has been an outspoken critic of the Premier League over its handling of the Tévez transfer.

Wigan, Fulham and Charlton Athletic - part of the “gang of four” clubs who questioned the League's dealing with the situation - were refused a copy of the arbitration report when they asked the FA yesterday. “I repeated my call that Dave Richards [the Premier League chairman] and Richard Scudamore should stand down,” Whelan said yesterday. “I expressed my displeasure with their handling over this, which I asked to be noted in the minutes of the last meeting of the clubs. Someone should carry that can for this. Will West Ham be docked points for next season?”

Yet early reports of the tribunal's findings suggest that the conduct of the League is not condemned. It states that the League was misled by Duxbury and, once this was known, acted according to its process by appointing an independent commission to hear the case. West Ham have said that Duxbury's position is not under threat.

There was incredulity, however, as further details began to emerge of the evidence on which the tribunal reached its verdict, including Gary Lineker's summing-up of West Ham's win over Manchester United on the final day of the season, broadcast in the Match of the Day highlights show. A match report in The Daily Telegraph was also considered, but the tribunal did not take into account anything bar Tévez's final nine performances for West Ham. The poor results of Sheffield United that season were also discounted.

In parallel with taking their action to the CAS, West Ham will challenge Sheffield United's estimated cost of relegation.

What they are saying

Neil Warnock (Crystal Palace and former Sheffield United manager) “This is justice, but it's a resignation issue for Scudamore. If we had had stronger leadership from the Premier League, Sheffield United would still be in the Premier League.”

Simon Jordan (Palace chairman) “Everyone in football knows that finally the right decision has been made. Rules were broken and the Premier League's handling of the case has been shocking.”

Tony Cascarino (former Ireland forward and Times writer) “West Ham United should have been deducted points. Other clubs have lost points for far less serious offences. I hope the two clubs work out a compromise.”