Fall-out from one of English football’s biggest scandals in recent times looks set to continue
St Mary’s Stadium will not be hosting Premier League football next season (Image: Matt Watson/Southampton FC via Getty Images)
Southampton are at risk of further punishment after the FA confirmed they were investigating their catalogue of cheating over the past few months, which saw the club expelled from Saturday’s play-off final against Hull City.
The ridiculed South Coast club failed in their appeal on Thursday, after two different independent panels felt that expulsion from the end-of-season Championship play-offs and a four-point deduction next season was a strong enough punishment.
It’s likely that German boss Tonda Eckert will lose his job, having been aware of a systematic course of spying on various clubs, including Middlesbrough, before their semi-final first leg earlier this month.
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After the EFL’s proceedings came to an end, and ahead of the full written reasons being published, the Football Association have now confirmed that they will investigate.
That could yet mean further bad news for Southampton, and members of their management team, who could yet face lengthy bans or heavy fines. Under existing rules, the EFL are only able to take action against clubs, and not individuals, but the FA do have that power.
“We will now investigate, and won’t comment further until we have assessed the evidence,” the governing body said in a statement on Thursday.
City, meanwhile, returned to training on Thursday after their scheduled day off on Wednesday to prepare for Saturday’s showdown with Middlesbrough at Wembley.
Sergej Jakirovic’s Tigers will travel to London on Thursday afternoon, before heading to Wembley Stadium for a look around on Friday night.
Bosses at the MKM Stadium, meanwhile, are deeply unhappy with the handling of the process and are in discussions with their own legal advisors and the EFL about their next steps.
The Tigers have sold around 33,000 tickets for the showpiece final for a place in the Premier League, with less than 5,000 still available for fans.
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