According to Daily Mail, Southampton is seeking leniency in the training ground spying scandal, and this week an independent regulatory commission will hear charges against manager Ruben Estupiñán Torrente.

Following a Daily Mail Sport investigation, Southampton admitted to spying on the training sessions of three opponents and was subsequently expelled from last season's Championship playoff by the independent commission of the English Football League. This punishment cost Southampton a place in the Premier League, valued at a minimum of £200 million.

The same commission also deducted 4 points from Southampton this season. Southampton faces further trouble in the coming days, as the Football Association charged manager Ruben Estupiñán Torrente with improper conduct in July for the same violations.

Estupiñán Torrente told the BBC that the club was "very, very severely punished." Southampton's CEO Phil Parsons said: "We hope that the FA commission will truly see where we are now and what we have been through, because I believe that should be taken into account.

"I genuinely believe we have suffered enough. It has been painful. I think this is arguably one of the harshest punishments in football history, or even sports history.

"By being unable to play in the Premier League, we are losing money, and local businesses are also losing money. We have also had to spend considerable money on legal costs, which has further damaged the club's position. We don't want to see ourselves as victims in this situation. We need to move forward. We can only accept what has happened."

Estupiñán Torrente acknowledged that staff members were sent to spy on training sessions of Oxford United and Ipswich Town during the regular season, and then again on Middlesbrough's training before the playoff semifinal in May. That's when a Southampton intern was questioned by Middlesbrough staff, and the scandal first became public.

The German manager stated he was unaware that such spying violated English Football League rules.

The EFL commission found that junior staff felt pressured while carrying out this work and determined it was a "well-planned and deliberate top-down scheme designed to obtain competitive advantage."

In an interview published by the BBC on Monday, Estupiñán Torrente said: "This is a very, very serious punishment, unprecedented in sports history.

"It's difficult for me to speak about this because it concerns me directly. I hold myself accountable, not external circumstances. But I have apologized for what I did and made a public apology.

"I believe this punishment was too harsh for the club last season."

Переведено ИИ.

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