Southampton’s exclusion from the Championship play-off final and a four-point deduction for next season is a «sanction disproportionate to the offence», the club’s chief executive Phil Parsons said on Wednesday.
Southampton were thrown out of the Championship play-off final on Saturday after being found guilty of spying on opponents Middlesbrough in the semi-final, one of the harshest punishments imposed in the English game.
Middlesbrough has now recovered and will face Hull City at Wembley on Saturday. However, Southampton have appealed the Independent Disciplinary Commission’s decision, with a final ruling expected later on Wednesday.
«Regarding the appeal itself, we accept that there must be a sanction. What we cannot accept is a sanction that is out of proportion to the offence,» Parsons said in a statement.
“While Leeds United were fined £200,000 ($267,940) for a similar offence, Southampton were denied the opportunity to take part in a match worth more than £200 million and which means so much to our staff, players and supporters.
“We believe that the financial implications of yesterday’s ruling make it, by a wide margin, the largest penalty ever imposed on an English football club.”
Even a single season in the Premier League followed by immediate relegation is estimated to be worth around £200 million over three seasons, through broadcast revenue, sponsorship and parachute payments.
In 2019, Leeds were fined £200,000 and reprimanded for spying on Derby County. Then-Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa admitted that his staff had watched all of the club’s opponents in training that season.
Parsons listed examples of other sanctions such as Luton Town’s 30-point deduction in 2008-09 but with «no comparable revenue at stake», as well as Derby’s 21-point deduction in 2021 which cost it its Championship status.
«We don’t say this to minimize what happened at this club, which we have accepted was wrong. We say this because proportionality itself is a principle of natural justice,» Parsons added.
«The Commission was entitled to impose a sanction. It was not, we will argue, entitled to impose a sanction that is clearly disproportionate to any previous sanction in the history of the English game.»
Published on May 20, 2026
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