RECORD FINE

West Ham were found guilty of "dishonesty and deceit" by the commission on April 27 and were fined a record 5.5 million pounds ($11.09 million).

But it also ruled "a deduction of points would not be proportionate punishment" as the club had new owners led by Magnusson and points lost in April would have meant relegation.

United countered that breaches of ownership rules in the contracts of Tevez and Mascherano meant West Ham had fielded ineligible players and that a points deduction was unavoidable.

Tevez became a key player for West Ham in their late season rally, while Mascherano agreed in the January transfer window to join Liverpool. The deal was cleared by FIFA before the deadline and rubber-stamped by the Premier League in February.

West Ham, who occupied one of the three relegation places for five months from December until the penultimate week of the season on May 13, eventually finished 15th with 41 points ahead of Fulham (39pts) and Wigan Athletic (38pts), who stayed up too.

Sheffield United, who lost 2-1 to Wigan on the final day, also finished on 38 points but with a worse goal difference than Wigan and went down after just one season in the Premier League, along with Charlton Athletic (34pts) and Watford (28pts).

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