What Did They Expect The Punishment Would Be?
In this day and age it is refreshing to see that Southampton received the correct punishment which matches their offence. So many times we see events taking place with very little or no consequences and finally we see the correct result. Southampton lodged an appeal which was heard on Wednesday evening and did not change the original outcome.
For those unaware Southampton have admitted that they spied on their Championship play off opponents Middlesborough before the first leg which ended in a 0-0 draw. The second leg Southampton won sending them into the play off finals which if they had won would have sent them into the English Premiership guaranteeing them around £500m if they managed to avoid relegation next season.
This was not the first time Southampton cheated this season and it has been revealed they have spied on other clubs training prior to their fixture and admitted to checking in on Oxford United and Ipswich town. They have broken the rules 3 times and was not a once off which they are fortunate that the points deduction was not more for next season. I think the punishment does fit their actions and could have been far worse considering what is at stake. Who knows if they are telling the truth because having admitted to spying on other teams 3 times in one season I would suggest there were more trips to other training grounds.
Why would a team spy on a team like Oxford United who are in the relegation spot and would suggest they spied on all the teams leading up to the end of the season giving them the edge to qualify for the play off spots in the first place. Quite unbelievable really and other clubs should be paying more attention how and where they train and how accessible the training ground is to the public. Spend a little more and have security and cameras present being the bare minimum. This should be a wake up call for any football team in the upper leagues especially the EPL and Championship clubs due to the money involved.
Southampton feels aggrieved because they say the punishment with the expulsion from the play off is too severe and this was unexpected. They knew previously clubs who had done something similar had been fined £200K so they would have been comfortable with that punishment but had not expected to be removed from the playoff final and deducted 4 points for next season. What they did was wrong and they need to accept the punishment handed out and move on.
This is not going to be the end of it either as the manager of the club is expected to face some type of sanction from the FA. I would expect the owners of the club to fire the manager anyway and anyone associated with the cheating tactics used.
The repercussions are not just football related and any association with a club that has cheated taints sponsorship deals. The fallout could be very costly and being expelled from the play off final is the least of their worries right now. Those involved will not be around to clean up the mess they created, but the club will still have to function as a business.