Leeds handed hefty fine over 'Spygate' | OneFootball

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Dan Burke·18 February 2019

Leeds handed hefty fine over 'Spygate'

Article image:Leeds handed hefty fine over 'Spygate'

Leeds United have been fined £200k and given a formal reprimand by the EFL following the ‘Spygate’ scandal.

On 10 January, a Leeds employee was caught acting suspiciously outside Derby County’s training ground ahead of a Championship fixture between the two sides.


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Whites boss Marcelo Bielsa subsequently admitted that he had sent the employee to spy on Frank Lampard’s team, and also confirmed he had actually watched every one of his opponents’ training sessions this season.

The EFL launched an investigation and it has now concluded that the West Yorkshire club breached Regulation 3.4 which states that “in all matters and transactions relating to the League, each Club shall behave towards each other Club and The League with the utmost good faith.”

The club have accepted the fine and offered their support to a new regulation banning clubs from attending opponents’ training grounds 72 hours before a fixture.

A statement released on Monday evening by EFL Chief Executive Shaun Harvey said: “The regulatory requirement to act in ‘utmost good faith’ was brought into EFL Regulations two years ago and was bolstered in 2018 by the introduction of the Club Charter, which sets out in more detail the standards of behaviour expected of member Clubs.

“The facts of this particular case were not ones we would have expected – and have to deal with a complaint about – and it is clearly impossible to have a specific set of Regulations that will apply in all circumstances of poor conduct, so, this charge was brought under a general Regulation. In doing this, the EFL has demonstrated we have appropriate provisions in place to protect our competitions and apply to all Clubs.

“The sanctions imposed highlight how actions such as this cannot be condoned and act as a clear deterrent should any Club seek to undertake poor conduct in the future. I would like to thank Leeds United for their assistance in helping to bring this matter to a conclusion as quickly as was practically possible.

“We will now look to move on from this incident and commence the discussions about introducing a specific Regulation at a meeting with all Clubs later this month.”

A Leeds spokesperson added: “We accept that whilst we have not broken any specific rule, we have fallen short of the standard expected by the EFL with regards to regulation 3.4.

“We apologise for acting in a way that has been judged culturally unacceptable in the English game and would like to thank Shaun Harvey and the EFL for the manner in which they conducted their investigations.

“Our focus can now return to matters on the field.”