Spygate proves there’s a hierarchy of cheating in football

This is one of the most shocking punishments in English football history. But is this the most shocking example of cheating? Not by a long shot. So why has this happened?

I won’t linger on one element of why because it’s so obvious. We all know if Southampton were a rich top-six club, this wouldn’t have happened.

Money talks, and it’s why Southampton’s punishment was expedited within 12 days, while Man City still await a result of their 115 charges for supposed financial breaches (three years later).

And even when rich clubs are punished, it’s often a wink-wink punishment that they can easily wriggle out of. Remember Chelsea’s many ‘transfer embargoes’ that had absolutely no impact?

So if you’re found to be cheating, will you be meaningfully punished? If you’re a rich top-six club, no. If you’re anyone else, watch out.

But apart from the ‘two-tier justice system’ between the rich and the poor, for some reason the EFL have now declared some cheating acceptable and some cheating unacceptable. Let’s take three examples:

You send a spy to an opponent’s training session. You discover their planned formation and that one of their star players is carrying an injury. You use this information to adapt your tactics, and you win the game.

You dive to win a penalty. The referee gives it, the penalty is scored, and you win the game.

The ball hits your knee on the way out for an opposition goal kick. You appeal for a corner anyway, knowing full well it hit you. The referee is fooled and awards a corner. You score and win the game.

All three of these games were won by cheating. But if you’re caught out, the punishments for these are wildly inconsistent.

In the first, you’re thrown out of the playoffs and deducted four points.

In the second, your player is yellow-carded. And given this is likely to be a striker, this is basically an irrelevance.

In the third, absolutely nothing happens. Not even a talking to.

Football is littered with cheating:

Ballboys refusing to return the ball when wasting time.

Fireworks outside hotels when opponents are sleeping.

Subs kicking the ball into the stands to waste time.

Goalkeepers feigning injury for a water break.

Scuffing the penalty spot.

Each can provide as big an advantage over the opposition as spying on a training session.

So why are these crimes either unpunished or punished so leniently as to be effectively ‘decriminalised’.

It’s great that football has finally found enough teeth to punish teams for cheating. I really hope it sets a precedent to properly go after teams who do it.

Will anyone ever spy on another team’s training after this? Absolutely not. Completely unthinkable… so why don’t we apply this to other cheating?

If you dive for a penalty, and after the match you are docked three points, no one will ever dive again.

A precedent has been set for punishment to be carried out now, after matches have ended.

After Thierry Henry’s handball stopped Ireland from going to the World Cup, nothing was done. The result of the match was set in stone.

But would wiping away France’s win have been any different to the outcome of Spygate?

If you’re going to go after cheats, let’s go after all of them. If we get some proper punishments in football like this one, we can materially improve the game for the better.ball was not released in that time, a corner would be given. It worked immediately. Bring in proper punishment, and the crime stops.

If you’re going to go after cheats, let’s go after all of them. If we get some proper punishments into football like this one, we can materially improve the game for the better.

Southampton out. Cheats out.

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James Perkins is head of social media at LBC.

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