'Richard Scudamore faces the prospect of being subpoenaed to provide evidence in the Carlos Tevéz affair. The Premier League chief executive could end up in the witness box to explain the role of the organisation in an increasingly complex legal battle over the ownership of the Argentina forward, which has been holding up his potential transfer to Manchester United.
'Lawyers for the companies are considering calling Scudamore to the stand. They are believed to want to know why the League gave West Ham the option of ripping up the contract with Tévez's owners to allow him to play in the final three games of the season, helping the club to avoid relegation. The League also gave West Ham the option of amending the contracts, which may have meant Tevéz missing at least one match while the paperwork was ratified. The third option was of not playing the forward.
'The companies' lawyers will also want to know what communication took place between the League and West Ham in the past year since the League queried how the club had managed to secure the services of Tevéz and Javier Mascherano, Tevéz's Argentina teammate, so cheaply and whether there were any documents that Scudamore had not seen
'West Ham have offered the companies £5 million in exchange for the release of the registration of the player. However, MSI and JSI are likely to reject that proposal because the contract between the parties said that they would pay West Ham £100,000 should Tevéz leave this summer.
'The Premier League board met yesterday to discuss West Ham's offer. The League is concerned with protecting its reputation and it is worried that if West Ham do not receive the money from the transfer, it will appear that the third-party agreement between the club and Joorabchian for Tevéz was not ripped up.
'Tevéz has agreed to a deal to move to Manchester United on loan for two seasons with the option of a permanent move, which could be worth more than £20 million.
'The player would be eligible to sign for United after the end of the transfer window on August 31 if he was a free agent, but United would miss the same deadline for registering him for Champions League matches before Christmas.'