For years, football fans have been calling for fewer fines and more sporting sanctions which bite on the pitch to act as a deterrent for rule-breaking clubs.
Southampton being stripped of the chance to play in “the richest game in football” is an unprecedented punishment, one of the most drastic sporting sanctions imaginable, and the photograph of a junior intern stood next to a tree capturing footage of Middlesborough’s training session on his phone will now be etched into sporting folklore.
EFL Regulation 127 prohibits any club from observing or attempting to observe an opponents’ training session shortly before a game, a rule introduced several years ago after Leeds carried out a similar operation. In less than two weeks, the matter went from investigation, to charge, to hearing and sanction, to appeal dismissed. The form of justice delivered must understandably feel ‘rough’. Note to self, check when Manchester City’s decision might land following the 2019 investigation into financial fair play.
EFL Regulations aside, the legal and reputational issues which now follow for those affected by ‘Spygate’ will be long-lasting and far-reaching. The written reasons of the EFL’s disciplinary commission, while understandably brief given the time pressures involved, are revealing and damning in equal measure.
The club has accepted what happened was wrong and apologised. It admitted the charges, perhaps expecting greater leniency on sanction in return, although it is now known that inaccurate information had originally been presented by the club in its defence. The £200,000 fine issued to Leeds in 2019 for a similar incident was the club’s yardstick on sanction. They feel they have been penalised disproportionately, but the commission’s decision reflects a tough stance and that integrity is paramount in one of the most prestigious and important competitions in English football which has huge financial consequences.
Externally, the club will be branded as cheats by the public and a lot of hard work will need to go into restoring relationships with its fanbase whose loyalty they have let down badly and those fans will no doubt look to the club for refunds on any out-of-pocket expenses incurred ahead of Saturday’s final. Rival clubs such as Wrexham who missed out on a playoff place altogether, or Hull who are now having to face a different opponent on a few days’ notice, may also be considering their legal options. Sponsors and club partners may also reconsider their brands being associated with the club.
Internally, players will have missed out on a possible career-defining game, the opportunity for Premier League football, and lucrative promotion-linked contractual bonuses or wage rises. Will they rally together and look to go again for promotion, or will they want out? The club’s negotiating leverage for any outgoing players could now be weakened. The individuals responsible for Southampton’s covert operation will now face the Football Association’s disciplinary processes with the one-year bans given to the coaches of the Canadian women’s team for a similar incident not too distant in the memory. They will be tarnished reputationally and will need a sympathetic and forgiving future employer if the club decides to part ways with them in the fallout.
However, the most striking aspect of the commission’s written reasons is that they considered it morally wrong and deplorable for junior members of staff to have been put under pressure “from the top down” to carry out the club’s “contrived and determined plan”. In essence, this was an organisational culture failure, not an isolated or unwitting rule-break, and those in the most senior roles of the club will also be scrutinised.
Success in sport is defined by fine margins. Any advantage over a competitor, no matter how small, can prove decisive and the club’s attempts to say that no sporting advantage was gained did not wash. The higher the stakes, the greater the rewards, and for a Championship club there is no greater reward than promotion to the Premier League. No doubt that is why Southampton felt that breaching EFL Regulation 127 was worth the risk, and now all is left is the fallout.
For further information, please contact Jamie Hurworth. Alternatively, telephone 020 7465 4300.
