Cardiff,Fulham & Norwich now launch legal bid to stay up

Fulham, Norwich and Cardiff join forces in last ditch legal bid to avoid relegation
Sunday May 04, 2014
By Dave Kidd

The clubs claim Sunderland should have been docked points for fielding an ineligible player

Christopher LeeJi Dong-Won did not have the correct international clearance to play for Sunderland

Fulham, Norwich and Cardiff have joined forces in a desperate late legal bid to avoid relegation – claiming Sunderland should have been docked points for fielding an ineligible player.

When approached by the Sunday Mirror last week, Fulham representatives insisted that the club would NOT go legal because West Ham's Carlos Tevez affair of 2007 suggested they had 'no chance' of persuading the Premier League to deduct points.

But after Fulham and Cardiff were both relegated following thrashings yesterday, while Sunderland continued their amazing late escape bid with a victory at Manchester United, it emerged that Fulham have staged a U-turn and joined the other two clubs in legal action.

Lawyers working on behalf of the bottom three have contacted the Premier League on behalf of the three clubs insisting that Sunderland should have been deducted points for fielding Ji Dong-won for four matches earlier this season – and asking why the incident had been covered up.

Ji did not have the correct international clearance after going out on loan last season but the Mackems only secured one point from the four matches he played – including a DEFEAT by Fulham, another reason club representatives gave for the Cottagers not trying taking legal action.

It is now likely that whichever of the dead men walking finish 18th in the Premier League will try to sue Sunderland or the League.

Fulham were part of a 'gang of four' clubs who sought legal action against the Hammers when they fielded Tevez despite the Argentine being owned by a third party, in breach of League rules.

West Ham escaped relegation but were hit with a £25million fine, with Sheffield United being demoted instead.

Fulham sources had insisted last week that the Tevez affair would have to be considered more serious than the Ji situation – as West Ham lied to the League and attempted a cover-up, while Sunderland approached the League admitting a paperwork blunder.

Cardiff were relegated after a 3-0 thumping at Newcastle, while Fulham were trounced 4-1 at Stoke. Norwich will join them in the Championship.



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Non starter..

No wonder why everyone is laughing at us.

so are we all going to stay up ?

if not are the 20th and 19th teams going to fight the case for the 18th,why waste the time.

we were shite just accept we were not good enough for that league which has been shown.

Bloody embarrassing I hope we don't

We won't don't believe everything you read, Norwich might try or Fulham if they finish eighteenth, and I don't blame them, if a team chested they should try, but we are down no matter what so we won't pursue it.......

Reeks desperation, no dignity
But then you lot are used to that.

Reeks desperation, no dignity
But then you lot are used to that.

Attention seeker again ,and you say we got no dignity

Desperation

Speculative journalism at best...................or worst

It will make u look all the more ridiculous and petty should u even attempt to do this.
And would make the other 2 look the same.
Sunderland deserve to stay up because when it mattered they pulled big results out.
The rest of u have just been poor .
You as a club realy should not go down this rd after the off the field fiasco u have had this season.
U were not good enough by a long way so accept it and look to repairing your club out of the lime light of the prem.

No wonder why everyone is laughing at us.

so are we all going to stay up ?

Sadly Spot

It will make u look all the more ridiculous and petty should u even attempt to do this.
And would make the other 2 look the same.
Sunderland deserve to stay up because when it mattered they pulled big results out.
The rest of u have just been poor .
You as a club realy should not go down this rd after the off the field fiasco u have had this season.
U were not good enough by a long way so accept it and look to repairing your club out of the lime light of the prem.

Sensible post sl69.

We are where we are because we messed up.

However, Sunderland should get a deduction though if they have broken the rules as Wimbledon got 3 points for 1 player in 1 game. They played the player for 4 games and should be punished accordingly. The team who finishes 18th can then benefit. Those who finished 19th and 20th deserve their fate.

What a complete non-story, no quotes directly from any club to actually back up these claims.

we are relegated .....end of....

Talk about clutching at straws

It will make u look all the more ridiculous and petty should u even attempt to do this.
And would make the other 2 look the same.
Sunderland deserve to stay up because when it mattered they pulled big results out.
The rest of u have just been poor .
You as a club realy should not go down this rd after the off the field fiasco u have had this season.
U were not good enough by a long way so accept it and look to repairing your club out of the lime light of the prem.

We are not its a load of bollox, wouldn't blame Norwich having a go though, if they cheated they cheated.....

It will make u look all the more ridiculous and petty should u even attempt to do this.
And would make the other 2 look the same.
Sunderland deserve to stay up because when it mattered they pulled big results out.
The rest of u have just been poor .
You as a club realy should not go down this rd after the off the field fiasco u have had this season.
U were not good enough by a long way so accept it and look to repairing your club out of the lime light of the prem.

We are not its a load of bollox, wouldn't blame Norwich having a go though, if they cheated they cheated.....

Agree. Dosent make a difference to us, but Norwich might feel different.

Wimbledon got deducted points this season for the same so why haven't Sunderland?

It makes no difference to us now but for the integrity of the game it should be appealed.

Wimbledon got deducted points this season for the same so why haven't Sunderland?

It makes no difference to us now but for the integrity of the game it should be appealed.

Sunday Supplement summed it up perfectly today

The football league are regulators, they investigate wrong doings and punish teams accordingly.

The Premier League are not regulators they are facilitators, so when clubs screw up they are not really punished.
However every club sign up to it so when they complain they cant really argue though clubs do try. This is what the Premier League is turning into unless rapid changes are made

It's madness.

Just look at how Italian football went down hill.

The best league in the world, then minor infringements of the rules were ignored because you didnt want to interrupt the spectacle of the league. Then serious infringements were ignored bribery, transfer fixes, massive bungs.

If the premier league are not careful they can end up going down the same road

I don't think we are far off with some sort of betting scandal