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Southampton are launching their appeal against expulsion from the Championship play-off final, saying their sanction is “manifestly disproportionate” to any previous sanction in English football history.
The south coast side admitted to repeatedly spying on their opponents this season – including Middlesbrough ahead of the playoff semi-finals – and were left out of Saturday’s game against Hull when a Premier League place was up for grabs.
Instead, the English Football League offered Middlesbrough a place in the final at Wembley Stadium, which is considered the richest soccer match in the world because a windfall of at least $270 million in future Premier League revenue is offered to the winning team.
In a lengthy club statement, Southampton chief executive Phil Parsons admitted that “what happened was wrong” and that the club deserved to be punished.
“What we cannot accept,” Parsons said, “is a punishment that is not proportionate to the offense.”
“The commission was entitled to impose a sanction,” he added. “He was not, shall we say, entitled to impose a sanction which was manifestly disproportionate to all previous sanctions in the history of English football.”
Parsons pointed out that Leeds were fined 200,000 pounds (then $259,000) in 2019 for spying on one of Derby’s training sessions before a Championship match that season. After this, the EFL introduced rules in a bid to avoid a repeat, requiring clubs to act with “utmost good faith and prohibiting the observation of another club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match”.
“While Leeds United were fined £200,000 for a similar offence, Southampton were denied the opportunity to participate in a match worth over £200 million and which means so much to our staff, players and supporters,” Parsons said.
“We believe that the financial consequences of yesterday’s decision make it, by far, the heaviest sanction ever imposed on an English football club.”
The EFL said Southampton subsequently admitted further breaches this season relating to matches against Oxford and Ipswich. The club was also deducted four points for next season.
An arbitration panel will hear Southampton’s appeal later on Wednesday. The result is likely at the end of the day or Thursday.
Associated Press reporting.
