Hull City take former chairman Duffen to High Court

HULL CITY have instigated legal proceedings against former chairman Paul Duffen in the High Court.

A hearing of the application will take place at the Royal Courts of Justice in London today before Mrs Justice Proudman.

Duffen, 51, left the Tigers in October after spending two-and-a-quarter years as chairman of the Premier League club.

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Hull last night issued the following statement: "Hull City AFC confirms legal proceedings have been issued against Paul Duffen in the High Court.

"These proceedings have been instigated to protect the commercial interests of the football club against actions undertaken by Paul Duffen whilst in office at Hull City."

Duffen was appointed chairman of Hull in June 2007, after Adam Pearson sold the club to an Essex-based consortium.

A year later, Hull won promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs and then escaped relegation last May.

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Pearson, who since leaving the Tigers had been football chairman of Derby County, returned to the KC Stadium early in November following Duffen's departure. Pearson has since worked alongside club owner and majority shareholder Russell Bartlett.

Today's hearing will take place in Court 54 of the Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand, London.

Hull's home game with Aston Villa scheduled for Saturday, February 27 has been postponed due to the West Midlands club being involved in the Carling Cup final that weekend.

Martin O'Neill's men will face either Manchester City or United the following day at Wembley, meaning a new date will have to be found for the trip to the KC Stadium.

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Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has defended his goal celebrations against former club Manchester United on Tuesday, insisting they were "a response to them saying I was not worth the money".

Tevez, who joined City after the champions decided not to spend 25m to keep him, goaded former team-mate Gary Neville during his two-goal performance in the 2-1 Carling Cup semi-final first-leg victory. Neville publicly backed Sir Alex Ferguson's decision not to buy the forward.

The Argentina striker also gestured towards the United directors but insists there was "nothing malicious intended".

"Gary was very disrespectful, which is out of character, but he didn't know the whole story of why I left Manchester United and I believe I deserved his respect," Tevez said. "Football is a form of theatre and it was just a form of banter."