Hull City owner Acun Ilicali has confirmed the club are examining whether the Championship play-off final can be cancelled over Southampton’s spying, with a view to earning automatic promotion to the Premier League.
Tonda Eckert’s side were expelled by an independent disciplinary commission on Tuesday, after Daily Mail Sport revealed that the Saints had sent a junior analyst intern to watch Boro’s training 48 hours before their meeting in the semi-final.
Southampton have admitted to having spied on their opponents, but have appealed against the punishment imposed, which puts Premier League promotion out of reach for another year.
Middlesbrough, who were beaten by Southampton in the semi-finals, are currently set to face Hull at Wembley on Saturday.
‘Under normal circumstances, two teams have reached the final and one has been disqualified,’ Ilicali said, as per Asist Analiz.
‘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.
Hull City owner Acun Ilicali confirmed the club’s lawyers are examining whether the play-off final could be cancelled and secure them automatic promotion to the Premier League
Tonda Eckert’s Southampton side were expelled from the play-offs on Tuesday, but the club have appealed against the decision
Hull are currently set to face Middlesbrough in the £200m showpiece at Wembley on Saturday
‘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.
‘Thursday is the last serious training session. We’ll prepare for the new opponent with one training session.’
Wednesday will see Southampton face a nervous wait for their appeal to be heard, with the EFL forced into contingency planning for Saturday.
Hull will kick-off against Middlesbrough – who have since been handed a place in the final – at 3.30pm, an hour earlier than schedule.
However, if Southampton are reinstated, the match will kick-off at the original time of 4.30pm.
Being barred from Saturday’s final will see Southampton – who beat Middlesbrough on aggregate – miss out on a tilt at the richest prize in football.
Daily Mail Sport reported on Wednesday that, with £250,000-worth of bonuses for the players who might have won promotion on the line, the squad could yet consider a class action suit to sue their club for loss of earnings.
Fans are also demanding refunds to the Wembley showpiece, after the club were both booted out of contention and handed a four-point deduction ahead of next season.
