Mike Tyson, Ben Johnson, Michael Brennan, McLaren and Stockton Town – what do they all have in common?
That’s right, they’ve all been disqualified from competition after giving themselves an unfair advantage.
Tyson was disqualified in his world heavyweight title fight for biting Holyfield, Johnston rightly thrown out of the Olympics for having more drugs in him that a Boots pharmacy, golfer Brennan kicked into the rough by the PGA Tour for using green maps whilst playing, and McLaren’s cars were disqualified by the FIA in Vegas for their car ride heights being too low.
Cruelly for The Anchors, they committed an innocent mistake but still had to face the ultimate sanction in last year’s playoff semis for fielding an ineligible player in their 1-0 win over Guiseley. A precedent for the EFL perhaps?
If the current “Spygate” case is proven, this is where the EFL now must grow a pair, and after Southampton’s semi-final success on the field, a very large pair.
The Saints have the status, Premier League money and the on-the-field victory, but in Steve Gibson, both they and EFL face a fierce adversary when he feels he’s been wronged, just ask Derby County.
It’ll be messy no matter what. Once decisions are made threats of legal redress are sure to abound. As such the Football League is in a no-win situation, but saying that there is opportunity for them, the opportunity to lead.
Where the mega-bucks Premier League leads English football in so many areas, now is the EFL’s opportunity to take the lead in terms of compliance and governance.
Should the case against the south coast side be proven then Boro boss Kim Hellberg’s use of the “c” word will be justified, and the Saints instantly become sinners, having breached EFL regulations 3.4 and 127.
It was Regulation 3.4 that Leeds United breached back in 2019, when then boss Marcelo Bielsa sent staff to watch Derby County train ahead of their clash. United were found guilty of not acting in Good Faith and fined £200,000. The EFL promised to clamp down, introducing Regulation 127, so banning a team from spying on another’s training session within 72 hours of a game.
And that’s where we are today. Southampton are charged with breaching both regulations, old and new.
For Hellberg, up against a side still bristling with Premier League talent, a club with Premier League resources, he says he’s been robbed of the only advantage he could take into the game, tactics. “When you have more money and you have more of a squad, you try to find a way of doing tactics to give you an advantage.”
“That’s the way I try to go with my team. That’s the way you always try to do because we can be better than them in that element. When that is taken away from you it breaks my heart.”
It is reported that when Middlesbrough staff confronted an individual, they allege was spying on their tactical training session, the person was in possession of surveillance equipment. Capable of videoing what was going on, together with a high-powered microphone that can pick up sound from a distance.
Added to this is the claim that once confronted, the individual swapped out his clothes, it does ask questions of the nature of his actions. Boro say they have irrefutable evidence to identify the person as a member of the Saints backroom team.
When a burglar steals from a house, he’s charged with burglary. If he carries a knife, it becomes the much more serious crime of aggravated burglary. Does use of surveillance equipment when spying make the case, if proven, more serious?
You bet it does! It suggests intent, of a pre-meditated deliberate act. Technology has come a long way in the 7 years since Leeds were sanctioned and certainly allows for far better data gathering. Data, that if gathered would certainly rob Hellberg and Boro of the only advantage they could carry into a set of games of such competitive magnitude.
Therefore, again I say if proven, the only punishment that can be handed out has to be a sporting sanction. Tyson was not allowed to wear the belt, Johnson was not allowed to wear the crown, McLaren were not told to start the next race from the pit-lane, no, they were all disqualified. Stockton Town too.
Should the independent disciplinary commission rule against The Saints, then the precedent set so many times in other sports and lower down the football pyramid should be followed, with Eckert’s team thrown out of the play-off final. They should not be seen to benefit from their actions.
If Southampton were to make it back to the top flight at Hull’s expense, when would an EFL points deduction be served? Even a fine slapped on them twice the size of Leeds’ would not even amount to a slap on the wrist once the Premier League’s riches flood in.
No, like Guisley (sorry Stockton), who were disadvantaged in their play-off semi-final and despite defeat on the pitch they were given their place in the show piece – and that despite an innocent mistake being the cause.
The aggravating nature in a case like this, if proven, would mean not only has it to be an immediate sporting sanction to clearly show to all that breaching these regulations should not bring unfair advantage. But also, the wronged party, like in the Northern Premier League, case needs to be compensated. The punishment must fit the crime, not be shaped around the situation.
Once proven, disqualification is the only just way to resolve a case like this. If so, has the EFL got a pair large enough to show the true leadership needed so badly right now?
