Southampton hit out at ‘largest penalty ever’ for spying on opponents
Club say expulsion from playoffs is ‘disproportionate’
Chief executive apologies to their fans
Southampton have described the decision to expel them from the Championship playoffs over the ‘Spygate’ scandal as “manifestly disproportionate” to any other sanction in the history of the English game. An independent commission on Tuesday imposed the penalty – which includes the docking of four points for next season – after the club admitted three spying charges, including one related to observing a training session of their playoff semi-final opponents, Middlesbrough, this month.
The commission also reinstated Boro for Saturday’s final, denying Southampton the chance of promotion to the Premier League worth an estimated £200m.
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