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The FA have sensationally agreed to arbitration in the Andy Carroll case to prevent West Ham going to the High Court on Friday morning over the striker’s red card.

A hearing has been scheduled - under the FA’s Rule K - for 11am Friday at a venue to be arranged.

Lawyers from both parties were discussing final details this morning.

The Hammers have defended their right to force the showdown that has stunned football.

Confirming Mirror Football's exclusive, West Ham admitted that they will now abide by the judgement of the new hearing.

The club: "West Ham United are today appearing before an FA Arbitral Tribunal in a challenge to the FA Regulatory Commission's decision relating to the three-match suspension of Andy Carroll.

"The club is concerned that the Regulatory Commission did not apply the correct test under the rule, and denied the club procedural fairness .

"West Ham's complaint is made under the FA Rules, and the club shall accept and abide by the decision of the FA Arbitral Tribunal.

"The club has no intention of taking the issue to the courts, but simply seeks a fair determination of its rights under the FA's Rules."

The FA have declined to comment, but this fresh twist comes after hours of talks that stretched into Thursday night between the FA’s lawyers and West Ham’s legal team in a desperate bid to prevent the club shattering the disciplinary system.

The Hammers had remained hell-bent on heading for the High Court after the FA initially refused arbitration over the failed appeal against Carroll’s sending off last Saturday.

Co-chairman David Gold confirmed their intention to follow through with their threat to take out an injunction blocking the red card and freeing up Carroll to play in their massive relegation scraps away to Aston Villa on Saturday and at home against Norwich on Tuesday.

That would have caused pandemonium as every club has signed up to an agreement that the decision of an Independent Commission is final.

But Gold said before Thursday night’s fresh development: “We are hugely disappointed at the outcome of the process.

“There is nowhere to go other than to seek some kind of legal redress. It’s not ideal, the last thing I want to do is going to some kind of legal issue, because I think it is a footballing issue. But we are fighting for our lives.

“If we were mid-table we would probably get on with it but we are fighting for our lives to retain our Premier League status and we owe it to our fans, we owe it to ourselves.”

(Image: Mike Hewitt)

West Ham, however, had stood by a number of points made in a letter put to the FA after consultation with highly-respected QC Lord David Pannick.

They insisted that Carroll should have had a personal hearing and that although the Commission maintains an “obvious error” has to have been made such wording doesn’t exist in the rules.

Mirror Sport understands the Hammers were actually ready to stand down if the queries in their letter had been answered to their satisfaction.

They were unhappy with the response on Thursday, however, and decided on their controversial course of action soon afterwards.

Carroll was sent off by World Cup Final referee Howard Webb for appearing to strike Swansea defender Chico Flores in the Hammers' win at Upton Park.

Replays showed minimal contact and that Flores had exaggerated his reaction but a three-man Independent Panel threw out the Hammers’ appeal on Tuesday.