And the truth about the Carlos Tevez transfer ultimately turned out to be a nightmare for the English game – from its highest-ranking officials right down to everyday fans left bewildered by the complications of players owned by "third party" companies instead of the club they actually play for.

The reality of how West Ham broke the rules – and lied about it – first unravelled on April
27 last year when an independent three-man commission, appointed by the Premier League, published the results of its inquiry into the Tevez transfer to West Ham.

The heart of its findings centred on the London club's admission that they had broken two key Premier League rules – rule B13, under which all clubs have to act in the utmost good faith towards other clubs and the League itself, and rule U18, under which clubs cannot enter into a contract which enables a third party to influence its policies or the performance of the team.

Looking into the background to the transfer, the commission, chaired by leading criminal lawyer Simon Bourne-Arton QC, found that not only did the Tevez contract contravene third party rules but that West Ham had lied to the Premier League about the existence of the agreement with Tevez's offshore company owners – MSI Group Limited (MSI) and Just Sports Inc.

The player, along with fellow Argentinian star Javier Mascherano, was transferred to West Ham at the end of August 2006, just before the League's transfer window closed.

Tevez was owned by the companies represented by Iranian businessman Kia Joorabchian, who negotiated the deal with West Ham.

The player's private agreement with the club acknowledged that the companies had the "sole, exclusive and unilateral right" to terminate his contract during forthcoming transfer windows without either Tevez or West Ham having the right to object. It also ruled out West Ham attempting to sell the player. On these terms the club obtained the services of a world star without paying a transfer fee.

Critically, West Ham withheld the details of the private agreement from the League when his contract was formally registered.

On September 8, the League's chief executive Richard Scudamore met the club's chief executive, Paul Aldridge, wanting to know how West Ham had got both players so cheaply and whether there was any documentation the League had not seen. Aldridge gave what the commission called "a categorical assurance that there was no such documentation".

The commission said it believed the club wanted to rush the transfers through before the deadline, could only achieve the deal with third party agreements, knew the League would probably not accept them and therefore "determined to keep their existence from the Premier League". It described Aldridge's assurance to the League as a "direct lie".

The existence of the private agreements emerged in January last year when the Premier League informed Nick Igoe, the finance director of West Ham, of a proposed report into third party ownership of footballers. At that point, Igoe decided to forward the contracts to the League.

The inquiry followed, along with controversy and condemnation – not least for the commission itself, which decided on a £5.5m fine for West Ham rather than the much anticipated points deduction which would have ensured the club's relegation, instead of Sheffield United.

Rather than end the furore over the deal, the judgment paved the way for a series of bitterly fought legal actions finally resulting in what United perceive as justice.


Premiership bosses must be held to account over ruling

THE PLAYER

FORMER Sheffield United player Rob Kozluk has pointed an accusing finger at the Premier League after yesterday's ruling on the Carlos Tevez affair, reports Ian Appleyard.

Kozluk, released within weeks of the Blades' relegation two seasons ago, says the Premier League robbed him of an extended top-flight career by failing to dock West Ham points at the start of the whole saga.

The Hammers escaped with a £5.5m fine rather than a points deduction and subsequently finished the season three points clear of the Blades who were relegated with Charlton Athletic and Watford.

"Although I think it is good that Sheffield United have now got some form of justice, it is sadly too late for players like me who are no longer in the Premier League," said Kozluk. "I guess most of the people who made the decisions are still in the same jobs and I just hope they can sleep at night."

Now playing Championship football with Barnsley, Kozluk was one of three senior players shown the door by the Blades alongside former Aston Villa defender Alan Wright and veteran centre-back Craig Short.

At 31, time may now be running out on his hopes of playing in the top flight again – although he still hopes to get there with Barnsley and reached the FA Cup semi-finals with the Tykes last season.

"A lot of people connected with Sheffield United have had very different careers as a result of the relegation," he reflected. "The majority of us have been denied time in the Premier League and we also lost bonus payments for staying up.

"Going down under any normal circumstances is hard enough to take but it makes it even worse when you know that, if things had been decided differently off the field, it could have helped keep us up."

Kozluk spent eight years with the Blades and made 19 appearances in the Premier League before being axed for the final four games.

"I wouldn't say the team's performances were in anyway affected by what was taking place off the field" he reflected. "We had no real idea what Carlos Tevez was up to or whatever – we were just doing what we could to keep our team in the Premier League. The fact that he scored West Ham's goal on the final day of the season against Manchester United just rubbed salt into the wounds."

Commenting on the decision of a tribunal to make the Hammers pay United damages, Kozluk said: "Getting £30m in compensation is one thing, but it doesn't put Sheffield United back in the Premier League. If the decision had been made straight away that might have been possible.

"I think the chairman, Kevin McCabe, has done well for his club by fighting it all the way and I know Neil Warnock has also played a part by giving evidence at the tribunal.

"They have reached the right decision in the end but, as I say, it is too late for me."

Click on the links below for more Blades news:
Warnock calls for Scudamore to quit.
Blackwell will have millions to spend.
Hammer horror show cast shadow over football.
Tevez timeline.
Listen to our experts give their verdict on the Blades podcast.