Sheffield loseSheffield United have lost their legal battle against relegation from the Premier League, even though an arbitration panel said West Ham should have been docked points over the Carlos Tevez affair.
The three-man tribunal dismissed Sheffield's claim for a new disciplinary commission to rule on West Ham and said the original decision to fine the Hammers £5.5 million could not be judged "perverse or irrational".
However, the panel confirmed that, had they been sitting in judgment originally, they "would, in all probability, have reached a different conclusion and deducted points from West Ham".
The tribunal's decision effectively ends their battle to avoid relegation from the top flight.
Eriksson jets inSven-Goran Eriksson was expected in Manchester last night to tie up his move to Manchester City. He is expected to take training today, when the players return for pre-season, and will complete the formalities tomorrow.
Riquelme pouncesArgentina, helped by a brace from Juan Roman Riquelme, beat Colombia 4-2 to reach the Copa America quarter-finals - and Paraguay joined them with a 3-1 win over United States.
In brief . . .Former England striker Teddy Sheringham is expected to sign for Championship side Colchester today. Spurs' Ireland winger Mark Yeates has also agreed to join the club . . . Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill is anxious to complete the signing of Nigel Reo-Coker from West Ham before focusing his attention on a new striker, with Tottenham's Jermain Defoe his primary target . . . Geremi has joined Newcastle from Chelsea on a free transfer.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)