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Southampton are entering their appeal against their expulsion from the Championship play-off final and believe their punishment is “manifestly disproportionate” to any previous sanction in English football history.
The south coast side repeatedly admitted to spying on opponents this season – including Middlesbrough ahead of the play-off semi-finals – and were removed from Saturday’s game against Hull as a Premier League place was at stake.
Instead, the English Football League gave Middlesbrough a place in the final at Wembley Stadium, considered to be the world’s richest one-off football match, because the winning team offers a winner of at least $270 million in future Premier League earnings.
In a lengthy club statement, Southampton chief executive Phil Parsons accepted that “what happened was wrong” and that the club deserved to be sanctioned.
“What we cannot accept,” Parsons said, “is a sanction that is disproportionate to the offense.”
“The commission was entitled to impose a penalty,” he added. “It was not, we would argue, justified in imposing one that is manifestly disproportionate to any previous sanction in the history of the English game.”
Parsons pointed out that Leeds were fined £200,000 (then $259,000) in 2019 for spying on one of Derby’s training sessions ahead of a Championship game that season. The EFL then brought in rules in an attempt to prevent a repeat, requiring clubs to act in “utmost good faith and prohibit the observation of another club’s training within 72 hours of a scheduled match.”
“While Leeds United were fined £200,000 for a similar offence, Southampton have been denied the opportunity to compete in a game worth more than £200 million and a game which means so much to our staff, players and supporters,” said Parsons.
“We believe that the financial impact of yesterday’s sentence makes it by a very significant distance the largest penalty ever handed down to an English football club.”
The EFL said Southampton had subsequently admitted further breaches this season relating to matches against Oxford and Ipswich. The club also had four points deducted for next season.
An arbitration panel will hear Southampton’s appeal later on Wednesday. A result is likely late today or Thursday.
Report from the Associated Press.
