EFL tear into Southampton's 'contrived and determined plan' as full Spygate verdict released
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The EFL has released a scathing assessment of Southampton's conduct during the Spygate controversy, with Saints manager Tonda Eckert found to have sanctioned a "contrived and determined plan" to violate league regulations and secure an unfair advantage ahead of the clubs' play-off semi-final.
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The Independent Disciplinary Commission that presided over Southampton's breaches of EFL rules has published its full written findings behind the decision to remove the Saints from the play-offs following their "deplorable" behavior. Eckert's side were ejected from the competition prior to their final against Hull City and handed a four-point deduction for next season after admitting to spying on Middlesbrough, alongside two other clubs this season.
It has since come to light that Southampton have additionally been reprimanded for forcing a junior staff member to carry out the spying operation. The staff member is said to have been pressured into the act despite personally considering it to be 'morally wrong,' as per The Mirror.
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Within its determination, the commission outlined the reasoning behind Saints being removed from the play-off final. Notably, the prize on offer for succeeding in the play-offs played a significant role and convinced the panel that a sporting sanction was necessary.
It was concluded that a points deduction during the regular season could lead clubs to view such violations as 'a risk worth taking,' while a financial penalty would carry little weight given the enormous riches available for Premier League promotion.
The commission observed that: "We have concluded that there was, on the part of the Respondent [Southampton], a contrived and determined plan from the top down to gain a competitive advantage in competitions of real significance by deliberate attendance at opposition training grounds for the purpose of obtaining tactical and selection information.
"It involved far more than innocent activity and a particularly deplorable approach in its use of junior members of staff to conduct the clandestine observations and analysis of footage and observations."
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Key findings can be found below:
"37. We consider that a particular aggravating feature, which distinguishes Charges 1 and 2 from the other charges, was the willingness of the Respondent to act in breach of Regulation 127 in a competition which is one of the most prestigious and important in English Football. It has not only reputational significance but considerable financial consequences and benefits for a club in the event of success in the competition and promotion to the Premier League.
"38. The integrity of the Play-Off competition was seriously violated, and the actions of the Respondent constituted a deliberate attempt to obtain an unfair advantage. For that reason, Charges 1 and 2 attract a much more serious sanction which in this case must result in expulsion from the Competition.
"We have considered whether a lesser sanction would be possible or appropriate while achieving the aim of the rule which has been breached. Were this event to take place during the regular season a points deduction or other sanction could be applied which would strip any sporting advantage and achieve the aims of the rule by making such activities not worth the risk. In the Play-Offs such a position is not possible.
"Points deductions for the regular season might still be a risk worth taking if it enhanced the possibility of promotion. A financial penalty, as proposed by the Respondent would not be effective at this stage in the competition since the financial rewards on offer for a team which is promoted to the Premier League through the PlayOffs would render any penalty meaningless. Perversely this may act as an incentive for clubs to breach Regulation 127 and pay the fine in an effort to increase the chance of promotion.
Tonda Eckert has been in charge of the Saints since November -Credit:Matt Watson/Southampton FC via Getty Images"39. So far as the remaining charges are concerned, we took a starting point of a three points per incident. As indicated above a sanction at this level achieves the aim of the rule since it effectively makes breach of Regulation 127 a zero-sum game. The six-point deduction was mitigated to four points to reflect the available mitigation, including the Respondent's acceptance of the charges, co-operation (although it is not accepted that this was unqualified) and their proffering of information in relation to the OU Incident and IT Incident (although we accept that they were on notice from the initial letter of 8 May that the EFL were investigating another incident and so these admissions were not entirely unprompted). We did not consider that a financial sanction was required in addition.
"40. In addition to the sporting sanctions a reprimand is considered appropriate in the present case because of the way in which junior members of staff were put under pressure to carry out activities which they felt were, at the least, morally wrong. Such staff were in a vulnerable position without job security and with limited ability to object to, or resist the instructions given to them."