Southampton have been kicked out of the Championship play-off final, known as the richest game in football due to the financial rewards from winning it, after the club was found to have broken league rules by spying on opponents’ training sessions.
The English Football League, which runs the second, third and fourth tiers of professional men’s football, said on Tuesday that an independent disciplinary commission had decided to expel Southampton from the play-off final, due to take place on Saturday.
It added Southampton had “admitted to multiple breaches of
EFL Regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other clubs’ training”.
Southampton will also receive a four-point deduction for next season.
Southampton had been hoping to bounce back to the Premier
League after being relegated last year. The south coast club is majority owned
by its chair, Serbian billionaire Dragan Šolak. The club still has tickets for
the Championship play-off final advertised for sale on its website.
Middlesbrough, one of the clubs that the EFL said
Southampton had admitted to spying on by instructing a staff member to film
their team in training, will now face Hull in the play-off final at Wembley on
Saturday if it goes ahead. Middlesbrough lost in the play-off semi-final
against Southampton a week ago, but the result was quickly overshadowed by
allegations of spying.
The winner of Saturday’s match is guaranteed at least £200mn
in additional revenue — a combination of a single year’s Premier League
television money plus up to three years of so-called parachute payments if the
club is immediately relegated back down to the second tier. That revenue
exceeds the rewards available from winning a single football game anywhere else
in the world.
The EFL said Southampton had initially been charged on May 8
with breaching league rules ahead of a fixture against Oxford in December and
again in April before a match against Ipswich. Those charges were then updated
on May 17 after the two-leg semi-final against Middlesbrough.
The EFL rules
prohibit clubs from observing rivals’ training sessions within 72 hours of a
scheduled match. The EFL said Southampton had the right to appeal and
that all parties were “working to try and resolve any appeal” on Wednesday.
“Subject to the outcome, it could result in a further change to Saturday’s
fixture,” it added.
Middlesbrough said it welcomed the EFL decision and would
issue ticket information for the play-off final shortly. “We believe this sends
out a clear message for the future of our game regarding sporting integrity and
conduct,” the club added. Spying cases are rare but not unheard of in English
football. In 2019, Leeds United were fined £200,000 for watching opponents’
training sessions before games.
I think that Southampton’s appeal is unlikely to succeed.
With all respect to Oxford United, I am surprised that one could learn anything
useful by spying on their training sessions.
It may be that their training ground is open to such activity rather
like Middlesbrough. Coventry City have
screened their training ground at Ryton.
It is possible that Southampton could take the matter to the
public courts, questioning the EFL’s authority or its decision-making. As things stand, the real losers are Hull
City who are going to face different opponents. Their fans cannot make travel arrangements
and hotel bookings with any certainty.
Many Saints fans are upset at their club’s conduct, but the sums
of money at stake in the modern game encourage (but do not justify) various
forms of cheating. The real losers here
are football fans rather than whoever was involved in the decision making at
St. Mary’s.
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