Sports / Soccer |
FIFA to investigate Tevez dispute(TICKER)Updated: 2007-05-16 08:26 ZURICH, SWITZERLAND -- FIFA is about to step into the Carlos Tevez dispute and will investigate whether West Ham should have been docked points for breaching Premier League rules. FIFA president Sepp Blatter said the game's world governing body has the power to pass a final verdict on an independent commission's decision to fine West Ham for having a third-party agreement. Several Premier League clubs are considering legal action against the Premier League over the commission's sanction, claiming the Hammers should have been deducted points. "We will ask for the file once it has been decided how and why the decision was made," Blatter said. "If we feel something was wrong in this decision then we have to open our file." Blatter added that, according to FIFA's files, the transfer of Tevez and Mascherano from Brazilian side Corinthians to West Ham had complied with international transfer regulations. "We will monitor this situation very carefully and once this situation is dealt with by the league and the FA (Football Association) we will ask for the files and have a look because we have the right and the responsibility to see how such cases are dealt with," Blatter said. "The matter is linked with a club in Brazil - Corinthians - and with the ownership of this club and the ownership of the two players." Blatter claimed a recent ruling by the Swiss federal court against Spanish third division side Rayo Vallecano meant FIFA did have jurisdiction over individual clubs. "Yes we have the power," Blatter said. "The Swiss federal court has made a ruling by saying that FIFA and its associations have the right and the power to use all 14 sanctions of the disciplinary code, starting with a warning and ending with exclusion of a member via relegation and deduction of points." In the Rayo Vallecano case, the Spanish club had been threatened with relegation if it did not pay transfer fees owed to a Brazilian club. It claimed, unsuccessfully, that FIFA did not have the power to do so. |
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