United could be facing sanctions over Tevez move

Manchester United could be charged with "tapping up" Carlos Tevez if they continue to push for the striker's £35m transfer without the agreement of the Premier League.

So far the Premiership champions have done nothing wrong in their attempts to sign the 23-year-old Argentine despite the controversy surrounding the complicated saga. But if Tevez flies into Manchester next week for a medical, which his adviser Kia Joorabchian said will take place on Wednesday, United could risk the wrath of the Premier League.

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The organisation argue that United should be dealing directly with West Ham United, Tevez's current club and the holders of his registration, and not Joorabchian. Yesterday a Premier League source warned that failure to do so could be a breach of their rules and therefore a case of approaching a contracted player without the permission of his employer. The punishments for the offence range from a fine to a ban on transfer activity for up to two transfer windows.

That stance appears perplexing because Joorabchian received an email four weeks ago from West Ham informing him that they would not be taking up the £40m option to buy Tevez. Since then, however, the Premier League have insisted that it is West Ham who have to do the deal and the club maintains it has had no contact with United and that no offer has been made to them.

At the same time Joorabchian and United admit that they have negotiated a deal with Sir Alex Ferguson declaring he believes Tevez will end up at Old Trafford.

Joorabchian also claims that West Ham have agreed to the deal taking place but the club deny this, declaring that the businessman's actions are "irresponsible", even if, at the same time, club sources have hinted that a breakthrough may come at the beginning of next week.

An impasse was reached after the Premier League declared it would not sanction the transfer unless West Ham kept the largest portion of the transfer fee. This is because the club, after pleading guilty at a disciplinary hearing, gave undertakings that Tevez is solely their player when it tore up the agreement it had with Joorabchian.

The Premier League are demanding that West Ham stick to that undertaking and are refusing to change their stance - and are even threatening to convene a second inquiry - despite concerted pressure from United whose lawyer Maurice Watkins has been tasked with sorting out a deal. Ironically Watkins was on the advisory panel that helped draw up the Premier League rules which West Ham then breached.

He spent last Friday at the organisation's headquarters but failed to change the minds of its chief executive, Richard Scudamore, or its chairman, Dave Richards.

Scudamore has come under increasing pressure over his handling of the affair ever since West Ham were found guilty of acting improperly and withholding documentation over the ownership of Tevez and Javier Mascherano. When the two were registered as players, West Ham failed to disclose that they had entered into an agreement with third-party companies.

There is an appetite at the Premier League for the issue to go to court so that it serves as a warning to clubs and to businessman against such agreements. That would need Joorabchian to sue West Ham, or indeed the Premier League, if he fails to receive the money he believes is due to him as the holder of Tevez's economic rights. However it also appears that he is intent on concluding a deal that would provoke the Premier League into taking action. The problem with that is that the organisation insists it will not hand over Tevez's registration until it is satisfied.

There were further developments yesterday with Sheffield United being refused leave to appeal against the Premier League arbitration panel decision which, itself, upheld the inquiry's verdict that a fine, rather than a points deduction, was the correct punishment for West Ham. The Blades, who are seeking up to £50m in damages for losing Premiership status, will now consider their options after the High Court ruling which failed to back their claim that the panel had made an "error in law". They may also try to pursue a case against West Ham.

Joorabchian, meanwhile, released a statement yesterday denying "any wrongdoing whatsoever" after a Brazilian court issued an international arrest warrant over allegations of money-laundering. The warrant relates to an investigation at Brazilian club Corinthians, of which Joorabchian's company MSI is a major investor. Joorabchian insists all his financial dealings, including international transfers, were cleared by the Brazilian Central Bank.

"The investigation in Brazil has been rumbling on for some considerable time and apparently involves numerous individuals including the president, club officials and partners of Corinthians Football Club," Joorabchian said. "I deny any wrongdoing whatsoever. I have co-operated fully with the authorities in Brazil and have previously offered to speak to them directly, an offer that they have not taken up."

The Brazilian authorities have also issued an arrest warrant for Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky, who is living in exile in London. Berezovsky has previously denied any business association with Joorabchian - and he denies having "any dealings connected to Carlos Tevez" or any involvement in money-laundering. Indeed Berezovsky is adamant the warrant is "an extension of the Kremlin's politicised campaign against him".