A European club is thinking about taking legal steps against Southampton over the spygate scandal.
Reports from Germany say Southampton might face legal action from Bundesliga club Nuremberg.
Southampton was kicked out of the Championship play-offs after admitting they spied on their opponents’ training sessions. This came after their semi-final rivals Middlesbrough raised concerns. Middlesbrough were then brought back in and will play Hull City in the Championship final this Saturday for a spot in the Premier League.
Southampton now faces various consequences after an independent panel decided to expel them and later rejected their appeal.
There are also reports that some Southampton players might consider legal action over lost earnings. Other Championship clubs, who feel they missed out because of Southampton’s improved form under coach Tonda Eckert, are also looking into their options.
The situation is even more complicated beyond the UK. Nuremberg plans to take Southampton to court over a €1 million bonus payment that would have been owed if Southampton got promoted. Nuremberg sold midfielder Caspar Jander to Southampton last August, and the deal included this promotion bonus, according to German newspaper Bild. The same paper also says Caspar Jander wants to leave Southampton.
On Thursday evening, the EFL shared the full reasons behind the independent committee’s decision, which made for tough reading. Southampton admitted to misleading the initial EFL investigation and accepted six charges for breaking league rules.
The report showed a disturbing picture of what happened at Southampton. It suggested at least one junior staff member was pressured into spying on other teams.
“The EFL’s evidence showed these activities were approved by senior staff and the task was passed down to an intern for the Middlesbrough and Oxford United incidents,” the verdict said.
The intern said he was pressured but refused to be involved in a certain IT-related incident.
The committee concluded Southampton had a planned scheme from the top to gain an unfair edge by spying on opponents’ training sessions to get tactical and team info.
“This was not innocent — it involved junior staff being used to secretly watch opposition training at the direction of senior personnel,” the report explained.