Dave Whelan has called on Richard Scudamore and Sir Dave Richards to step down following the Carlos Tevez affair.

Sheffield United lost their fight to be reinstated to the Premier League on Tuesday following an arbitration panel's hearing into the punishment meted out to West Ham United regarding the eligibility of Tevez and fellow Argentine, Javier Mascherano.

Though the panel concluded they would 'probably' have deducted points as a punishment, they opted against reversing the original decision.

Wigan Athletic chairman Whelan, whose club stayed up at the expense of United, has been outspoken in his criticism of the situation.

"It's been a botched affair," Whelan told the Daily Mail. "All kinds of things have been done incorrectly and, from what I can tell, covered up. And so much time has been wasted getting to his point.

"Why, when they knew about this shortly after Christmas, did it take until the end of April to have the original hearing?

"And why is it only now, in July that we have reached this stage?

"I'm sure nothing can now be done for Sheffield United and that is very sad. It just isn't right.

"What the arbitration panel are saying backs up everything Wigan, Sheffield United, Fulham, Charlton and Middlesbrough have been saying all along, and if the arbitration panel think it's wrong, then Richard Scudamore and Dave Richards have seriously got to consider their positions."