Most of the attention around Middlesbrough’s statement on Friday will centre around the club wanting Southampton thrown out of the play-offs.
We sort of knew this anyway, of course, but Boro coming out and putting it on the record ramps up the story another notch.
But buried in the detail is one important fact: the Riverside club have not been named by the Independent Disciplinary Commission as an “interested party”.
This could turn out to be very important.
It means that if the final outcome is not to Boro’s liking – so any result which results in Saints still playing Hull on 23 May – they have no right to appeal against the decision or challenge it.
It is standard practice for there to be only two “interested parties” in a disciplinary hearing – the one bringing the charge, in this case the EFL, and the other defending it, Southampton.
But Boro argue that it is unfair that they are now, in effect, locked out of the process.
After all, it is they who raised the complaint and provided all the evidence. They are the “party” who was being impacted by the spying.
It does create at least a little more certainty for the play-off final, however.
If Southampton are not removed then it means, unless the EFL were to appeal, the match would definitely go ahead as scheduled.
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