Premiership: Spurs must face music after Graham sacking

John Barnwell, chief executive of the League Managers Association, has confirmed that Tottenham are to be brought before a Premier League arbitration panel over the sacking of former boss George Graham.

Graham is seeking around £1.5million compensation for his dismissal by Spurs in March over an alleged breach of contract but having received no response to an ultimatum he issued to ENIC, the club’s new owners, called in the LMA.

Barnwell said: ‘‘We will be asking the Premier League to start the process of the arbitration panel by the end of this week.

‘‘As an association we always try as hard as possible to reach settlements by mediation but in this case we find it impossible to achieve. We have waited two months and are not going to wait any longer.’’

Tottenham, who claim Graham is not entitled to any pay-off, alleging he leaked what they perceived as sensitive information to the media, cannot refuse to come before the arbitration panel and must abide by its decision.

All Premiership clubs have agreed to this process in cases of managers being dismissed but a Premiership spokesman said it could be several weeks before the case involving Graham, believed to a front-runner for several high-profile managerial vacancies, comes to a hearing.