The NFL Players Association has demanded that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell step down as his role of arbitrator in the appeal of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
Brady was banned for four matches by the league for being generally aware that members of the Patriots' equipment staff had deflated footballs in their AFC championship win over the Indianapolis Colts.
The 37-year-old appealed the suspension and hired Jeffrey Kessler as his attorney for the case, while the NFL announced that Goodell would act as arbitrator, despite his involvement in the punishment.
The NFLPA has hit out at the decision of Goodell to appoint himself in the role and believes that he should recuse himself to ensure the integrity of the case.
It said in a statement: "The NFLPA has formally requested that commissioner Roger Goodell recuse himself as the arbitrator in Tom Brady's disciplinary appeal.
"Given a process that has contained procedural violations of our collective bargaining agreement, the commissioner's role as a central witness in the appeal hearing and his evident partiality with respect to the Wells report, the commissioner must designate a neutral party to serve as an arbitrator in this matter.
"The players also believe that the commissioner's history of inconsistently issuing discipline against our players makes him ill-suited to hear this appeal in a fair-minded manner. If the NFL believes the Ted Wells report has credibility because it is independent, then the NFL should embrace our request for an independent review."
Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced that the club would not appeal their sanctions from the same case.
Simon Sinclair
