Tottenham Lost the Premier League Appeal

Even though they were hoping to a future re-match against West Ham United, Tottenham officials were given some bad news yesterday night.

On Wednesday, while everybody was worried about how Boro will do in the UEFA final, Tottenham received the news that they will not be given the chance to re-play their game against West Ham.

Although most of the Premiership clubs agreed to the Spurs petition of a rematch, Premier League officials wanted to hear nothing about it. As a consequence, Tottenham will certainly miss out of the next Champions League competition.

For the record, Tottenham asked for a re-match of their last round game against West Ham - they lost 2-1 and blew their chance of playing in the Champions League next season, allowing Arsenal to gain the 4th position in the Premiership standings. The reason was the food poisoning of more than 11 Tottenham players. Although West Ham agreed to a postponement, as long as it didn't harm its FA Cup final preparation, the League officials refused it.

Along with the club's image, the financial aspect suffers the most. Champions League is known to give consistent prizes to its competitors, while the UEFA Cup only focuses on international recognition more than prizes in money. It is more painful for the Spurs fans since their main rivals, Arsenal London, have announced yesterday their final balance after the 2005/2006 season. Well, it seems like the gunners had a 75 million $ profit from TV rights and UEFA prizes. It was nothing but normal that the Spurs had tried their best to take back the chance they just blew off.

After all this semi-scandal, we can now honestly say that the 2005/06 Premiership is over. Arsenal will again try their best in the CL next season - when it would be more than possible to have to retain their title, if they beat Barcelona in the finals this year - while Tottenham has to settle for UEFA Cup participation, where they'll have to really play their best football. The UEFA Cup can also bring substantial winning, on the condition that the teams reach at least "the quarters" of the competition.