Middlesbrough say the “only appropriate response” if Southampton are found guilty of spying is for the south coast club to be removed from the Championship play-off final.
Middlesbrough officials allegedly caught a Southampton staff member covertly filming their training session just 48 hours before the first leg of their play-off semi-final last Saturday.
Boro staff reportedly spotted the individual, identified as a Saints analyst, observing from a public area overlooking their Rockliffe Park base.
Saints won the second leg 2-1 after extra-time in midweek to qualify for the final against Hull City, a game reportedly worth around £200million to the winner.
That game, scheduled for May 23, is now in doubt after the EFL announced an Independent Disciplinary Commission hearing set for Tuesday. If Southampton are found guilty then there is a raft of possible sanctions that could be handed down.
Boro believe it is quite simple and outlined their case for the Saints’ expulsion in a statement this afternoon.
It read: “Middlesbrough FC notes the decision of the Disciplinary Commission not to permit the club to intervene in the proceedings brought by the EFL against Southampton FC.
“The club regrets that outcome, given we are directly affected by the matters under consideration and hold relevant factual evidence as to the events in question and their competitive impact.
“The conduct at issue, namely the observation and recording of our training session ahead of a fixture of such significance, goes to the heart of sporting integrity and fair competition. In these circumstances, the only appropriate response is a sporting sanction which would prevent Southampton FC from participating in the EFL Championship play-off final.”
Middlesbrough threaten legal action
Middlesbrough also hinted at legal action if the matter was not resolved to their satisfaction.
The statement concluded: “We remain hopeful that the EFL, as regulator, will pursue such a sanction before the Disciplinary Commission in order to protect the integrity of the game, safeguard all member clubs, and deter any attempt in the future to obtain an unfair and unlawful advantage in pursuit of promotion to the Premier League.
“The club reserves all its legal rights.”
What have Middlesbrough and Southampton bosses said?
Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg was emotional in speaking after his side’s play-off exit.
“I have worked for 15 years as a coach, trying to get to the Premier League,” he told his post-match press conference.
“When you go home to your family and say, ‘no, I’m not coming home, I’m going to watch more Southampton games because I need to see it’, and you’re going into the play-offs… this is the thing.
If we wouldn’t have caught that man who they sent up, five hours to drive, you would sit here and say, ‘well done in the tactical aspect of the game’, and I would go home and feel like I had failed to get my players ready.
“When that is taken away from you in that way, when someone decides, ‘we’re not going to watch every game, we’re going to send someone instead and film the session and see everything’, and hope they don’t get caught, I guess that is why he was switching clothes and all these things – I can say it because I know it happened.
“It breaks my heart in terms of all the things I believe in.
“They are my feelings about it. I think it’s disgraceful. It makes me very sad.”
Meanwhile, Southampton boss Tonda Eckert walked out of the press conference following his side’s win after he was asked: “Are you a cheat?”
Southampton, though, have launched an internal review.
Their chief executive, Phil Parsons, said in a statement released on Tuesday: “The club is fully cooperating with the EFL and the disciplinary commission, whilst also undertaking an internal review to ensure that all facts and context are properly understood.
“Given the intensity of the fixture schedule and the short turnaround between matches, we have requested time to complete that process thoroughly and responsibly. We understand the discussion and speculation that has followed over recent days, but we also believe it is important that the full context is established before conclusions are drawn.”
