Hull City proprietor claims attorneys say membership ought to be given direct promotion after Spygate
Hull City owner Acun Ilicali says lawyers have advised his club should receive direct Premier League promotion after Southampton were expelled from the Championship play-offs following the Spygate scandal
Hull City’s owner has spoken out on the ‘messy’ situation (Image: Warren Little, Getty Images)
Hull City owner Acun Ilicali has disclosed that he has been told his club have grounds for automatic promotion to the Premier League following the chaos from the Spygate scandal involving Southampton and Middlesbrough.
The Tigers have witnessed their opposition switch just days ahead of the play-off final, with plans to tackle the Saints now completely scrapped.
Southampton were deemed guilty of violating EFL regulations after being caught surveilling Middlesbrough’s training sessions prior to their play-off semi-final. They also confessed to two additional instances of spying on rival teams and were ejected from the play-offs as a consequence, and will begin next season with a four-point penalty.
The Saints immediately lodged an appeal regarding the harshness of their sanction, meaning that Middlesbrough’s comeback to the competition isn’t entirely certain yet. It will be considered on Wednesday.
While his team gears up to meet Boro this weekend, Ilicali has confirmed that legal advisors have suggested Hull should advance straight into the top flight, without competing in the play-off final, following Southampton’s removal, reports the Mirror
“Under normal circumstances, two teams have reached the final and one has been disqualified,” Ilicali is quoted as saying in the Turkish press.
“Our lawyers’ opinion is that we should go directly to the Premier League, but they’re examining it right now. We can’t say anything definitive. It’s a bit of a messy situation.
“We had been preparing for Southampton for 10 days. All the planning, analysis, and work was focused on them. Now, with the days left until the final, the opponent has changed. Tomorrow the players are off, Thursday is the last serious training session. We’ll prepare for the new opponent with one training session.”.
Southampton are upset with the severity of the penalty they have received, and have pointed out problems in the decision-making as they lodge their appeal.
Saints CEO Phil Parsons issued a statement advocating Southampton’s case.
Parsons stated: “We have appealed yesterday’s decision by the Independent Disciplinary Commission to expel Southampton Football Club from the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs, and to impose a four-point deduction for the 2026/27 season. Before turning to that appeal, I want to address our supporters, our players, and the wider football community directly and without equivocation.
“What happened was wrong. The club has admitted breaches of EFL Regulations 3.4 and 127. We are sorry to the other clubs involved, and most of all to the Southampton supporters whose extraordinary loyalty and support this season deserved better from the club.
“We have provided our full co-operation to the EFL’s investigation and disciplinary process. Following the appeal, we will also be writing to the EFL to volunteer our participation in a working group on the practical application and enforcement of Regulation 127 across the Championship. Contrition without change is hollow, and we intend to demonstrate change.
“On the appeal itself: we accept that there should be a sanction. What we cannot accept is a sanction which bears no proportion to the offence. Whereas Leeds United was fined £200,000 for a similar offence, Southampton has been denied the opportunity to compete in a game worth more than £200m and one which means so much to our staff, players and supporters.”
“We believe the financial consequence of yesterday’s ruling makes it, by a very considerable distance, the largest penalty ever imposed on an English football club. Luton Town’s 30-point deduction in 2008/09 – to date the most severe sporting sanction in the English game – was levied against a club already in League Two, with no comparable revenue at stake.
“Derby County’s 21-point deduction in 2021 cost them their Championship status. Everton’s eventual six-point deduction in 2023/24 followed losses of £124.5m, a figure dwarfed by what has been taken from Southampton in a single afternoon. The largest financial penalty ever levied by the Premier League, against Chelsea in March of this year, was £10.75m, and was accompanied by no sporting sanction whatsoever despite involving £47.5 million in undisclosed payments over seven years.
“We say this not to minimise what occurred at this club, which we have accepted was wrong. We say it because proportionality is itself a principle of natural justice. The Commission was entitled to impose a sanction.
“It was not, we will argue, entitled to impose one that is manifestly disproportionate to every previous sanction in the history of the English game. Our appeal will be heard today, and we will provide a further update in due course.”
