Fifa will investigate Tevez saga

Originally Posted by BBC.co.uk

Fifa is to investigate whether West Ham should have been docked points for breaching rules over the signings of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

An independent commission fined West Ham £5.5m, but several clubs felt they were let off lightly.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter said: "We will look at this. We will ask for the file once it has been decided how and why the decision was made.

"If we feel something was wrong then we have to open our file."

Sheffield United, who went down on the final day of the season as West Ham survived, are leading the fight against the decision not to punish the Hammers with a points deduction.

The Blades, who are being supported by the likes of Wigan, Fulham and Middlesbrough, are also concerned that Tevez may not have been eligible to play after the Premier League's ruling on 27 April.

The Argentine striker played a key role in West Ham's escape from relegation - scoring seven goals in the club's last 10 games.

The Premier League has argued that it has no case to answer as regards West Ham's punishment because all 20 Premiership clubs agreed to the disciplinary system in place.

However, that has not stopped Sheffield United from pursuing their case and Blatter's intervention may encourage them.

The Fifa boss said a recent ruling by the Swiss federal court against Spanish third division side Rayo Vallecano means the world governing body does have jurisdiction over individual clubs.

"Yes we have the power," he 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.