Arbitration panel to decide Heinze's fate

Heinze wants to join Liverpool and claims he has a letter from United allowing him to leave if any club offered a fee of 6.8m. However, United maintain that they made it abundantly clear to Heinze, both orally and in writing, that he would not be permitted to join one of their top-flight title rivals.

The three-man panel will be made up of a judge or lawyer, a Premier League representative and a third person experienced in football administration. The hearing will specifically deal with the dispute between Heinze, who has two years left on his current contract to run, and United. Liverpool will have no input at the arbitration panel. Such panels are reasonably common occurrences and can be called to settle disagreements as minor as a dispute over a fine.