Southampton will soon face a hearing for the charges for alleged spying on Middlesbrough training
The EFL Puma match ball ahead of a play-off match(Image: Simon Dael/Shutterstock)
The EFL hearing for Southampton will get under way in the coming days, with Middlesbrough’s appeal to intervene being rejected by the independent disciplinary commission.
This isn’t a legal case, but to make an understandable comparison, if it were: Middlesbrough are the victim – their evidence will be heard, but they won’t take the witness stand.
The EFL are the prosecutor, while Southampton are the defendant. The independent disciplinary commission are the judge and jury.
While expressing their regret at not being allowed to present their evidence in person in a statement on Friday, Boro also called for the EFL to pursue the harshest possible punishment on Southampton – expulsion from the play-offs.
And it’s fair to say that, from Boro’s point of view, a case from earlier this season sets an interesting precedent that would mean, if the EFL don’t do exactly that, then they would face serious scrutiny.
The case in question is that of Swindon Town and the charges they faced for fielding two ineligible players in the EFL Trophy match. The written reasons published after the hearing of that case – in which the independent disciplinary commission ultimately decided to expel Swindon from the competition – tell us a lot about Southampton’s upcoming hearing, and what we might expect.
First of all in Swindon’s case, they ultimately accepted the charges they faced. Their defence in mitigation was that both instances were merely administrative errors. They hadn’t intended to breach regulations or gain an unsporting advantage.
The written reasons explain that the EFL submitted their referral that the club should be expelled from the competition. The reasons they set out for this were interesting, and relevant to Southampton’s case.
The EFL reminded that principles were set in: the decision in Derby v. EFL (SR/017/2020), in which it was decided that ‘any sanction should serve four purposes: (i) punish the Club for the breach; (ii) vindicate other clubs which had not engaged in conduct that breached the rules; (iii) deter future breaches of the rules, whether the relevant club or by other clubs; and (iv) restore and preserve public confidence in the fairness of EFL competitions’.
The EFL acknowledged that their regulations state that ‘any sanction should go no further than that which is necessary and proportionate’, they said that the final purpose: public confidence in the fairness of EFL competitions’ was most important.
Swindon’s argument that it was an error, not a deliberate attempt to cheat, mattered little. The disciplinary commission found in favour of the EFL and Swindon were expelled from the EFL Trophy. The team they beat in the game in question, Luton Town, were subsequently reinstated for the quarter final. They subsequently went on to win the whole competition.
In its reasons for its decision, the disciplinary commission acknowledged Swindon’s genuine remorse, but noted, ‘its focus has been in particular, but not exclusively, on the key issue of the public confidence in the fairness of this season’s EFL Trophy.’
It went on to add: “In the circumstances, and notwithstanding the points of mitigation submitted by the Club, a fine alone would not be a ‘balanced’ outcome or ‘meet the aim’ of public confidence in a fair competition in this season’s EFL Trophy.”
While Southampton’s alleged offence is a different breach of EFL regulations, it would be fairly argued theirs should be considered worse. Whereas Swindon’s was an administrative error, if proven, Southampton’s would be a premeditated attempt to gain an unfair advantage.
While the EFL won’t get to decide what the potential punishment for Southampton should be if the charges are proven, they decide what they should push the disciplinary commission to do.
The Swindon case ultimately sets a precedent that should put pressure on the EFL to push for Southampton’s expulsion from the play-offs. If not, both Boro and Swindon would have the right to feel particularly aggrieved.
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