City may pick Tevez again

Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez could be set to play for the club again after all.

City are desperate to prevent the striker from cancelling his contract under a FIFA ruling, according to The Daily Mail.

The notorious incident in Munich, in which Tevez appeared to refuse to warm-up, has rumbled on, and it appears that the player has no future at the club.

But he could make another appearance for City this season, which would stop him from invoking a new FIFA rule.

Under the world governing body’s regulations, if a player is involved in fewer than 10 per cent of his club’s games because of non-footballing reasons, he is entitled to tear-up his contract.

Manchester City would like to safeguard their investment in a player they still value at around 40 million pounds, so Mancini could be forced to pick him to forestall his former captain walking away from the club for nothing.

Mancini had previously stated he did not want Tevez to play for the club again, but given the FIFA ruling he may be willing to select the Argentine purely in order to close that contractual loophole.

Manchester City were forced to halve Tevez’s fine when the players’ union, the PFA, backed him. It was a decision that Tevez’s former manager, Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, found baffling.

“I think it’s a bit strange, of course,” Ferguson said.

“The rules and regulations are there, that’s a fact, and (PFA chief executive) Gordon Taylor has said that the maximum fine you can give a player is two weeks (wages).”

“It seems a bit crazy in that particular situation but it’s there and there’s nothing you can do about it.”