After a two day hearing in the Premier League kangaroo court West Ham United eluded the points deduction punishment, but were given a huge fine of £5.5m instead.

The ludicrous situation that exists is the doing of the Premier League, they are the governing body and they should as part of the registration process require the full disclosure of the necessary documents before the players are registered and able to compete for their new club.

Many had thought that the club would be deducted points for fielding an unregistered player, but Tevez and Mascherano were both registered to West Ham. Does the ownership of the players really matter? The world governing body FIFA appeared to condone individuals owning players, so how does it contravene Premier League Rules? How does a club loaning a player owned by an individual differ from a club loaning a player from another club? How is it wrong? Why was the fine so extortionate?

If the punishment is a fine, surely those who completed the transaction should be liable to pay it, Terry Brown and his board were responsible for bringing the club and game in to disrepute not those who are in charge at the moment. Perhaps the new management of the club will bring civil action against the old board.