By David Gold
July 22 – Fulham are taking their case to have Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards’ removed from his role over alleged involvement the transfer of then Portsmouth forward Peter Crouch to Tottenham Hotspur in 2009 to the Supreme Court, the club has confirmed.
Crouch’s decision to move to Tottenham was therefore of critical importance to the south coast club’s survival and ability to participate in the Premier League that season.
Portsmouth’s financial situation at the time of Crouch’s move in July 2009 was dire, with the club facing the possibility of being wound up over taxes.
Court papers have shown that Portsmouth would have been shut down if they hadn’t been able to raise the £9 million ($15 million/€10 million) they received from Tottenham for the player.
Crouch left the south coast club to join Tottenham for a fee in the region of £9 million, whereas Fulham were willing to pay £11 million ($18 million/€12 million).
Critically, Tottenham, unlike Fulham, were prepared to pay the whole amount up front, and the Cottagers believe that Richards’ role in the transfer was improper.
Fulham took the case to court after rejecting the Premier League’s offer to arbitrate the dispute, but in December a high court judge, Geoffrey Vos, ruled against Fulham.
Nicholas Pattern this week was one of three court of appeal judges ruling against Fulham’s bid to avoid the case being referred for arbitration.
Fulham are now asking the Supreme Court to hear their case, as they believe that it is a matter of fundamental political importance.
In a statement released to the Press Association, the club said that they will be “seeking permission from the Supreme Court to appeal this decision since it considers that a point of law of general importance is involved and that it has a good prospect of success.
“The decision by the Court of Appeal affects not only the world of football but potentially every company in the land which has a shareholders’ agreement or set of articles of association with an arbitration clause.”
Richards has admitted talking to Tottenham on behalf of Portsmouth, but denies Fulham’s allegation that he was an “unauthorised agent”.
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