WITH BRAMALL Lane closed for the international break and several Sheffield United players preparing to embark on another round of World Cup qualifiers with their respective countries, the Carlos Tevez Affair has again reared its ugly head.
West Ham, who last month were ordered to pay the Championship club compensation after an independent arbitration panel ruled the Argentine striker, whose presence at Upton Park broke transfer regulations, helped them win at least three points during the controversial 2006/07 campaign.
United, who lost their Premier League status after trailing the Londoners by that exact margin, won a landmark legal victory when Lord Griffiths and his team ruled in their favour.
Proceedings designed to determine the exact amount they will receive are scheduled to take place early next year, with reports suggesting that United's representatives will submit a damages claim of between £30 million and £50m.
But West Ham, despite agreeing to be bound by the terms of the arbitration, are pressing ahead with their efforts to get the verdict overturned by invoking a little-known FIFA rule that enables the decision of national associations to be reviewed by the Court of Arbiration for Sport, based in Lausanne.
"An appeal against the decision of a federation, association or sports-related body may be filed with CAS insofar as the statutes or regulations of the said body so far provide or as the parties have concluded a specific arbitration agreement and insofar as the appellant has exhausted the legal remedies available to him prior to the appeal, in accordance with the statutes or regulations of the said sports related body," CAS's website confirms.
The devil, it appears, will be in the detail.
United have refused to comment publicly on West Ham's course of action but, privately, they insist the arbitration was a private matter and that the FA, under whose rules the process took place, had no influence over the outcome.
Officials at Soho Square have also taken that view and are likely to take a dim view of suggestions to the contrary.
While the lawyers continue their argument, United manager Kevin Blackwell is focusing purely on footballing matters.
With a clutch of players away on international duty, coaching staff at Shirecliffe will be keeping their fingers crossed that Gary Naysmith (Scotland) and David Cotterill (Wales) both return home in peak condition ahead of next weekend's Steel City derby.
Justin Haber (Malta), David Carney (Australia) and Keith Gillespie (Northern Ireland) are also likely to see action but have yet to hold down regular places in Blackwell's first-choice 11.
"It's an honour for players to represent their countries and to play at the highest level," Blackwell said. "If you have people involved in games like this then it means you've got good players.
"The only thing those of us at club level do is wish them all the best and then keep our fingers crossed they come back okay."
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