After conducting a two-week internal investigation into the Carlos Tevez, Manchester City issued a statement on Tuesday claiming that they had concluded that there is a case for Carlos Tévez to answer of alleged breaches of contract.
The official City statement read:
“The club has been conducting an investigation into the events of 27 September at the Allianz Arena. The club has now reached a stage in its investigation where it has concluded that there is a case for Carlos Tevez to answer of alleged breaches of contract. Accordingly, the club has informed him that he will face disciplinary proceedings and the hearing will be convened shortly.”
So Tévez will now face a disciplinary hearing early next week, although with the possibility of appeals to the club board and the Premier League, a definitive resolution could yet be delayed until mid-December.
Tevez is due back from his two week suspension on Thursday at which point Roberto Mancini is expected to tell Tevez that he be training with the reserves from now on.
Tévez, who met with City officials in London on Wednesday following his return from Buenos Aires, is insistent that Mancini should apologise for claiming that he refused to play in Munich according to today’s Telegraph.
In return, Tevez would issue his own apology for an initial refusal to warm-up during the match, although he remains adamant that at no time did he refuse to play.
The problem for Tevez is that he is in no position to demand anything from Mancini or Man City. City’s lawyers are confident they can prove he breached his contract. Negotiations between both sides took place all day yesterday but no agreement was reached. Still, I don’t think anyone expects City to simply fore Tevez. What City want is to suspend Tevez for 6 weeks without pay and banish him to training with the reserves until they can sell him in January.
It is clear, however, that Tévez and his advisers are determined to exhaust every possible avenue of appeal, regardless of the action that City takes. Tevez wants to clear his name. although one train of thought is that by appealing and keeping this in the press, that Tevez keeps his profile high which will help him get sold in January.
What Tevez needs to be careful of is upsetting City’s ownership so much that they keep Tevez in the reserves until his contract runs out in three years. Yes Tevez would still get paid in this scenario, but he could go years without playing, which would be the ultimate punishment.
