On This Day in 2007: West Ham accept fine over Tevez and Mascherano deal

The Hammers were hit with the hefty financial penalty by the Premier League’s independent commission as the transfers broke third-party ownership rules, but avoided a costly points deduction.

At the time, the fine was the biggest in English football, dwarfing the £1.5m imposed on Tottenham in 1994 for financial irregularities.

The east London club escaped relegation by three points after Tevez scored crucial goals during the final games of the season, condemning Sheffield United to the drop.

West Ham announced the arrivals of Tevez and Mascherano from Brazilian club Corinthians in August 2006 during Alan Pardew’s reign as manager, hailing the transfers as a “massive coup”.

But the Argentina internationals were found to have been partially owned by businessman Kia Joorabchian’s Media Sports Investment (MSI) company, meaning they should have been ineligible and prompting the Premier League charge.

Among the reasons for the decision not to deduct points was the club’s guilty plea and the fact that they had changed management and ownership.

West Ham and Sheffield United eventually reached an out-of-court settlement to end their dispute in March 2009.

The Blades initially valued their claim at £45million but the actual figure agreed was reported to be around £20million, with payments spread over a five-year period.

Forward Tevez scored seven goals in 26 Premier League outings for the Hammers before joining Manchester United in the summer of 2007, while midfielder Mascherano made just five top-flight appearances for the club prior to moving to Liverpool in January of that year.