Ranking the likely EFL punishments if Southampton found guilty of ‘Spygate 2.0’ | OneFootball

Southampton fans are facing a nervy wait for the result of an EFL investigation after their club was charged with spying on a Middlesbrough training session.

While the Championship playoffs have yet to produce a goal, Southampton’s trip to Middlesbrough was at least exciting and the home side may be left to rue the 21 shots they had that failed to go in, but the backdrop to the game was an alleged incident of spying by a Southampton staff member who was caught observing Boro’s training in the build-up to the game.

The St Mary’s club issued a non-statement as the EFL charged them with breaking rule 127 which states that “no club shall directly or indirectly observe (or attempt to observe) another club’s training session in the period of 72 hours prior to any match”.

Now, Boro and Saints fans wait to see what action could come of it should Southampton be found guilty.

Here are five possible punishments based on how likely we think they are to happen:

5. Docked points for next season

Points deductions have become pretty commonplace for rule breaching in football but the issue here is that we are post-season and so much of the league is already on their holidays.

If the EFL did hand out a points deduction, it would have to be at least 10 to have any relevance but in the scenario, what would happen to seventh-place Wrexham? Would they take Saints’ place in the second leg? Even that has the issue of the Welsh team not training and no preparation done by the management.

An alternative could be a points deduction for next season but that would become a tricky issue should Southampton be promoted for up until this point, it has been an entirely EFL investigation.

It remains to be seen whether the Premier League would want to implement such a deduction and whether the laws even permit that.

A points deduction then seems quite unlikely but would not be without precedent. At the 2024 Olympics, when the Canadian women’s team spied on New Zealand with a drone, FIFA deducted Canada six points and fined them 200,000 Swiss francs (£189,000).

Canada head coach Bev Priestman was also suspended.

4. Kicked out of playoffs

If a points deduction is not feasible and would serve no benefit to Middlesbrough, a more reasonable suggestion is that Southampton would be kicked out of the playoffs and Boro given a bye into the final.

But even this seems unlikely because for a start, it seems an overly harsh punishment for the offence and is also without precedent.

In the 40 years of the playoffs, no team has ever been booted out midway through a tie and doing so now would be a big statement by the EFL.

3. Empty stadium for the second leg

This is one of few possibilities that would give Boro a clear sporting advantage but the EFL may be hesitant to pull such a measure and it would come at a cost to fans.

While plenty of Southampton fans live in close proximity, there are always fans who travel and so have bought train tickets and hotel rooms. Do they deserve to be out of pocket for something out of their control?

The EFL could argue blame your club but it seems unlikely that they would hand out such a punishment.

2. Touchline ban for Eckert

Tonda Eckert walked out of his post-match press conference on Saturday and has refused to admit the spy was sent under his orders. The suggestion is that the individual went of his own accord but anyone who believes that, we have some magic beans to sell you.

In scenarios like this, it is often the manager who pays the price and the EFL will take a dim view of any suggestions that Eckert was unaware. So a reasonable punishment could be that he is forced to watch from the stands.

Middlesbrough fans would not be happy with what they would likely see as a light punishment but it does look a possible option at this point.

1. Issued a Fine

The most realistic option at this stage would be a fine.

There’s precedent for such a punishment as Leeds were charged £200k for their spying incident but that was before such a rule was invented.

A fine in this scenario would likely be a lot more given there is now an established rule against it and Leeds’ spying came midseason rather than during the playoffs. So it could be quite the hit to Southampton’s wallet, not that they would care should they go up to the Premier League.

Middlesbrough will be annoyed for a fine serves them no purpose but at this stage, it seems the most likely outcome if Saints are found guilty.