West Ham appeal to CAS over Tevez

West Ham have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport as they attempt to avoid a huge payout to Sheffield United in the Carlos Tevez affair.

CAS will now examine whether it has jurisdiction to hear the case, although a decision on this is not expected until the end of November.

The Lausanne court initially stated its rules would not allow an appeal.

Yet the fact it is willing to hold a preliminary hearing into its jurisdiction offers hope to West Ham.

A three-man panel will now decide whether CAS can hear the case.

One arbitrator was supposed to be provided by each club with the third member, the chairman, being nominated by CAS.

Yet while West Ham have provided an arbitrator, Sheffield United have not, meaning CAS will appoint this member as well.

West Ham are expected to argue that FA rules would be in breach of Fifa statutes if they did not allow for an appeal to CAS.

Last month, CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb told BBC Sport: "As things stand, CAS would not be able to hear this case.

"We would need agreement from Sheffield United and for Football Association rules to allow an appeal to CAS."

The Blades would be reluctant to give agreement to an appeal that could overturn the decision of the independent tribunal.

And the FA actually has a rule that stipulates there cannot be an appeal from the verdict of an independent tribunal.

An independent tribunal ruled West Ham broke Premier League rules when they played Tevez at the end of the 2006/7 season and that he then went on to play a key role in keeping them up.

Sheffield United are claiming more than £30m in compensation from the Hammers.

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