Tribunal to rule on Tevez affair

The Premier League has caved in to Sheffield United's request to set up up an arbitration tribunal over the commission into the registration of Carlos Tevez.

An unnamed source close to Sheff Utd is quoted by the BBC saying,

"We received a letter from the Premier League on Tuesday telling us they do not think we have any grounds to request arbitration - but they accept it is our right to do so.

"They have said they will not appoint anyone until Friday to give us the opportunity to withdraw the request - basically they are saying we are wasting everybody's time."

The Premier League and The Blades will nominate one member each of the tribunal. These two members will then choose a chairman. The tribunal will effectively have the powers of a court and the parties will agree in advance to abide by any decision reached.

The arbitration can only look at whether the original commission was conducted properly. If the panel consider the process was faulty then they could send the affair back to the commission to review the punishment handed out to West Ham. However the league has made it clear to Sheffield United that they think they are wasting their time and money on going to arbitration.

A premier League spokesperson said,

"It can't be about the decision, only the process. The only way the decision can be overturned is if arbitration decides it was a flawed process or an unrealistic judgement and they send it back to the original commission to review the punishment.

"It will be hard for anyone to prove that this was an irrational judgement."