EPL side Hull City has been told it can make a "fresh bid" to change its name to Hull Tigers next season, according to the BBC. The club tried to make a change in April '14 but "was blocked by the Football Association Council." Now, after Hull claimed the process was flawed, an independent panel has ruled the decision "cannot stand" and told the club it can try again. In its judgment, the panel "found that the original ruling had placed too much weight on objections from supporters." Hull Owner Assem Allam, who took over the club in '10, "believes switching to Hull Tigers will help the club's 'global' appeal." The panel was "especially critical" of Football Supporters' Federation Chair Malcolm Clarke. It accused Clarke of "bias" and using his influence to "effectively -- and wrongly -- delegate the council's decision to fans." A statement by the panel said, "Rather than take account of all the matters that were relevant to the decision, he decided in advance to base his decision on one, namely the support of the club's supporters" (BBC, 3/16). The HULL DAILY MAIL reported a statement by the FA said, "The club raised a number of challenges during the course of the arbitration. These included a competition law challenge, arguments that The FA had failed to follow its own rules and a challenge to the process undertaken by The FA in respect of its name change application." If, "as expected, the Allams do reapply to become Hull Tigers" for the '15-16 season, "the request will be considered by The FA Membership Committee in accordance with the relevant policy and then by The FA Council in accordance with FA Rule A3(l)" (HULL DAILY MAIL, 3/16).
