An Independent Disciplinary Commission has today expelled Southampton from the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs after the Club admitted to multiple breaches of EFL Regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other Clubsβ training.
In addition, the Club has received a four-point deduction that will be applied to the 2026/27 Championship table.
The effect of todayβs order is that Middlesbrough are reinstated into the 2026 Play-Offs and will proceed to the Play-Off Final against Hull City. The final remains scheduled for Saturday 23 May, with the kick-off time to be confirmed.
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2 - West Bromwich Albion become the first team in the history of English football to mathematically avoid relegation twice in the same season. Illusive.
So a club can sell its hotel to itself, sell its womenβs team to itself, but West Brom are punished, they believe, for legitimate βin-kindβ donations to the Albion Foundation, its charity partner that saves lives. Albion also believe the alleged PSR breach is βless than Β£2mβ
@RobDorsettSky@JPercyTelegraph@GoldbergRadio @BuzagloToBalis @AliJones9 Hang on - the club had to borrow money BECAUSE Lai had literally stolen (I use that term without hesitation) money from the club with the Wisdom Smart βloanβ that was made unlawfully by his stooge (then sole director of the club), Ke Xu, in blatant breach of his fiduciary duty to only act in the best interests of the company (being the football club) which that βloanβ made to Wisdom Smart very clearly was not!
I sent several emails to Ke Xu about this (I have copies), pointing out his blatant breach of fiduciary duty and demanding to know as a shareholder what he was doing to enforce repayment from Wisdom Smart. Every email was totally ignored. I also sent emails about it to the clubβs auditors, Azets (I still have copies) who were obviously very interested. Crucially I sent an email to Rick Parry (Chairman) and Trevor Birch (Chief Executive Officer) of the EFL on 20th January 2023 about Laiβs βloanβ, which led to two video calls with their βvery interestedβ colleagues Mark Rowan (Chief Communications Officer) and Nick Craig (Chief Operating Officer) in May 2023 about all the shenanigans. I made them aware of facts regarding the Chinese ultimate beneficial ownership of the club which neither they nor the Premier League (who originally approved Lai as βfit and properβ) knew nothing about. Because of those illegal acts by Xu, as Laiβs puppet, money unlawfully disappeared from the club, leaving it days away from going into administration.
If the club may potentially now suffer a points deduction some 3 years later directly because of the club having no option but to pay interest on expensive MSD loans taken out by Lai to literally keep the club in existence because he was unable to repay his own unlawful Wisdom Smart βloanβ, then this would be a disgraceful gross injustice by the EFL and must be fully exposed and challenged. No sane person would deem that to a breach worthy of a points deduction. The EFL was made fully aware of the situation regarding that Wisdom Smart loan and if they cannot now locate their emails to refer to, I do still have them all.
The EFL has had an absolute stinker here on multiple fronts (as did the Premier League before them) and they need to recognise that and immediately dismiss any charge against the club.
West Bromwich Albion acknowledges media reports relating to the clubβs compliance with the EFLβs Profitability & Sustainability (P&S) rules.
The club considers that it has fully complied with the P&S rules. The club will continue to co-operate with the EFLβs Club Financial Reporting Unit and looks forward to resolving this matter.
Albion understands the concerns of supporters and thanks fans for their unwavering support of the team, whose success on the pitch during the final four games of the season remains our absolute priority.
It would not be appropriate for the club to comment further at this stage.
We're delighted to confirm @JasonRoberts30 has been appointed a Non-Executive Director of the clubβs board.
Roberts joins Chairman Shilen Patel, Director Ethan Gobetz, and Executive Director Mark Miles on the board of West Bromwich Albion Football Club Limited.