West Ham have responded to this afternoon's joint statement by the Premier League and Football Assocation confirming that there will be yet another inquiry into the Carlos Tevez affair.
In a brief statement posted on whufc.com tonight the club confirmed that they would 'co-operate fully' with the inquiry, adding that they had 'nothing to hide' in the wake of the announcement this afternoon."We have acted in good faith throughout the various inquiries and investigations into this matter and fulfilled the undertakings given to the Premier League following the initial penalty," said the statement.
"We have nothing to hide and will ensure that this is once again reflected in our evidence to The FA and Premier League."
The PL and FA issued a joint statement earlier today to confirm that a new enquiry would be conducted in order to examine whether West Ham broke further rules after the original Premier League panel's decision at the end of April 2007, which fined the club a massive £5.5million for breaking two minor league rules.
Specifically it relates to Tevez's involvement in the final three games of the 2006/07 season, for which he was granted permission by the PL after receiving assurances from the Hammers that the original contract between West Ham United and the player's rights owners had been torn up.
"The Premier League and the FA are to institute a joint inquiry into the views expressed by the Independent Arbitral Tribunal chaired by Lord Griffiths in September 2008, which dealt with a compensation claim by Sheffield United against West Ham United brought under FA rules," read the statement.
"The joint inquiry will examine whether the conduct of West Ham United immediately after the Independent Disciplinary Commission's decision of 27th April 2007 amounted to further breaches of Premier League or FA rules."
The timing of the decision to hold a new enquiry comes just weeks after the most recent arbitration panel - headed by the FA - bizarrely concluded that Tevez was responsible for Sheffield United's relegation. That finding gave Sheffield the green light to sue West Ham for compensation, which, in the Championship club's opinion, was worth an astonishing £50million.
The new hearing could go one of two ways, either of which will have a critical bearing on the FA panel's decision to allow Sheffield United to sue for damages. Should the inquiry decide that further rules were broken the Hammers could face a further fine or even a points deduction - despite there being no precedent for such a punishment (as per the original panel's April 2007 enquiry).
However should the inquiry find in favour of West Ham the chances of Sheffield United receiving any compensation whatsoever would be virtually nil, given that the FA panel's decision relied so heavily on Tevez's involvement in those final three games of the season.
Whilst West Ham United responded immediately to news of the inquiry, Sheffield United are yet to respond.
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