Southampton F.C. have launched an appeal against their dramatic expulsion from the Championship play-off final, insisting the punishment handed down by the English Football League is excessively harsh and unprecedented.
The club said on Wednesday that the sanctions imposed were “manifestly disproportionate to every previous sanction in the history of the English game” after an independent disciplinary commission removed them from the final over an admitted spying scandal.
The decision followed revelations that Southampton staff had engaged in unauthorised filming of a training session involving semi-final opponents Middlesbrough F.C..
As a result of the ruling, Middlesbrough were reinstated and are now set to face Hull City A.F.C. at Wembley on Saturday for a place in the Premier League.
Meanwhile, Coventry City F.C. and Ipswich Town F.C. had already secured automatic promotion to the Premier League after finishing first and second respectively in the Championship standings.
In addition to expulsion from the play-off final, Southampton were also docked four points for next season after admitting multiple breaches of EFL regulations concerning the unauthorised observation and filming of rival clubs’ training sessions.
Southampton chief executive Phil Parsons publicly apologised to supporters and affected clubs following the ruling.
“To the other clubs involved, and most of all to the Southampton supporters, you deserved better from the club,” Parsons said in a statement.
The club’s appeal is expected to be heard later on Wednesday by an independent arbitration panel.
In their defence, Southampton argued that the punishment far exceeds previous disciplinary action in similar cases. The club pointed to the 2019 incident involving Leeds United F.C., who were fined £200,000 after then-manager Marcelo Bielsa admitted spying on a training session of Derby County F.C..
However, football authorities noted that the current regulations are significantly stricter than those in place during the Leeds incident.
The EFL introduced Regulation 127 following the Bielsa controversy, specifically banning clubs from observing opponents within 72 hours of a match in order to remove ambiguity surrounding such practices.
Southampton nevertheless insist that while they accept responsibility for the breach, the punishment of expulsion from the play-off final and a points deduction is far beyond what the offence warrants.
The outcome of the appeal could now determine who competes for promotion to the Premier League in one of the most controversial Championship play-off sagas in recent years.