Manchester United have demanded that Fifa take action against Chelsea if it is proved the English Premiership champions hijacked the John Obi Mikel transfer.
The two clubs are involved in a bitter tug-of-war over the 18-year-old Nigerian who initially signed a contract with United from his Norwegian club Lyn Oslo, only to later claim he was forced to sign and wanted to join Chelsea instead.
United have sent a nine-page letter to Fifa, co-signed by chief executive David Gill and Morgan Anderson, Lyn’s sporting director, in which a number of allegations are made against the Premiership champions.
In the letter, the Red Devils call for sanctions, including a ban on conducting transfer activity and even an exclusion from some competitions, should Chelsea be found guilty.
United claim they had a legitimate deal with the Nigerian, who is currently on African Nations Cup duty in Egypt, and that evidence suggests agents working for Chelsea caused Mikel to disappear days after signing a contract.
Mikel’s agent, John Shittu, had claimed the teenager signed under duress and the contract should be ruled null and void.
Fifa has yet to make any decision, but Chelsea have admitted they would be interested in signing the player, should his contract be terminated.
United’s letter emerged from a special investigation, due to be aired on BBC Radio on Monday night.
It said: ”If the involvement of Chelsea is established, then the complainants would seek the imposition of the sanction as set out in Article 23.2(a) of the Fifa regulations, namely a ban on Chelsea ‘registering any new player, either nationally or internationally’ for the duration of two registration periods.
”In addition, given the welfare issues that this case raises, including the disappearance of the player from Lyn, it is submitted by the complainants that this is a case which warrants the imposition of severe sanctions under Article 23.2(d), including exclusion from competitions.”
The world football governing body is also to investigate claims that Mikel received death threats, something the player denies.
There is no suggestion that those threats came from Chelsea, but the BBC claims to have three sworn affidavits from employees of Lyn Oslo stating that Mikel was threatened over the telephone, including threats against his life.
United insist they have rights to the player, who was not expected to move to England until 2008. They have also claimed that he was forced into saying he wants to join Chelsea — Mikel counter-claimed that the contract he signed with Lyn was forged.
Before moving to Norway, the talented teenage midfielder had already caught the eye of several top clubs and had trained with Chelsea and at Manchester United’s training ground with a Nigerian youth team.
On his 18th birthday, he signed a professional contract with Lyn, but just one week later he signed for United, although without any personal representatives present.
United said in their letter: ”As he is entitled to do so, the player confirmed that he did not wish to utilise the services of a Fifa-licensed agent in the negotiations.”
According to the BBC investigation, the only people in the room when Mikel signed were Lyn’s sporting director Andersen, United academy director Jimmy Ryan, a lawyer representing United and a lawyer from the firm that works for Lyn.
The deal was worth several million pounds to Lyn, but there is a serious moral question in a player, days after his 18th birthday, signing a new contract without an agent or member of his family present.
A statement released by Chelsea later on Monday said: ”Chelsea Football Club is aware that at least one copy of a private and confidential letter from FC Lyn Oslo and Manchester United to Fifa dated May 18 2005 that made unfounded allegations against Chelsea in the case of John Obi Mikel has been leaked to the media.
”It is outrageous that private and confidential correspondence relating to proceedings before Fifa has been deliberately leaked in this way in an attempt to smear Chelsea’s name and, more importantly, to undermine an active Fifa process and pressurise Mikel.
”As far as Chelsea is concerned, this whole issue is a matter for Fifa.” — Sapa-AFP