Southampton Announce Appeal Fails
Wednesday, 20th May 2026 21:33

Saints have put out a statement saying that their attempt to overturn the sentence imposed on them has failed.

Southampton Football Club has this evening been informed that the EFL’s League Arbitration Panel has upheld the sanctions imposed earlier this week. As a result, the club will not participate in Saturday’s Championship Play-Off Final.

This is an extremely disappointing outcome for everybody connected with Southampton Football Club. We know how painful this moment will be for our supporters, players, staff, commercial partners and the wider community who have given so much backing to the team throughout the season and we apologise once again to everyone impacted by this.

While we fully acknowledge the seriousness of this matter and the scrutiny that has followed, the club has consistently believed the original sporting sanction was disproportionate, a view that has been widely shared by many in the football community over the last 24 hours.

We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to our supporters for the support, patience and loyalty they have shown throughout an incredibly difficult period. We will share information as soon as possible in relation to ticket refunds for those who bought tickets to Wembley.

Southampton Football Club has a proud history and strong foundations, but it is clear that trust now needs to be rebuilt. That work begins immediately. The club will reflect carefully on the events that have led to this point, learn from them and take the necessary steps to move forward responsibly.

While tonight is a painful moment, this football club will respond with humility, accountability and determination to put things right.

All Photos Via Reuters

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Bawdrip added 21:35 - May 20 Inevitable I think. Heads will now roll.
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darthvader added 21:41 - May 20 Absolute 1 big pile of shíte
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SanMarco added 21:42 - May 20 Taxi for Tonda and his spies. On second thoughts make the feckers walk.
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Saintandy66 added 21:50 - May 20 I didn't renew my season ticket this year as I really didn't like the way the club was run and employing Will still was the last straw. But I was beginning to think they might of got there act together how very wrong I was total shit show
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bstokesaint added 21:50 - May 20

What I’m taking from this is that you’re better off cheating for a longer period of time and lying to cover your tracks. An incredibly high precedent has been set.

Feel Tonda is toast now. It’s a shame because I think he had what it took to be a top coach. Felt so unnecessary. God knows how many players will leave over the summer, but fair play to the ones that ride the storm.

Up the Hull. Go Tigers, or whatever you guys say.

sandywelsh added 21:59 - May 20 The Championship representatives on the EFL Board are; Peter Ridsdale Director Preston North End Neil Bausor Chief Executive Middlesbrough Zoe Webber Executive Director Norwich. Did we get a fair hearing?
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bryanK added 22:05 - May 20

I wrote on 12th May my disappointment in the allegation and now we have confirmation of our football club’s guilt.
The damage is hugely problematic and if Sports Republic handle matters poorly we could be facing dire consequences.
Lose of key players and complete lack of trust in the club from the strong supporter base will be the priority going forward, let alone the severe drop in finances.
I hate to see any individuals lose their livelihood but we all know their actions has cost our beloved club reputation for the foreseeable future. Darkest day in my 73 years of supporting Southampton Football Club. Shameful

benalisbroom added 22:05 - May 20 Peter Ridsdale: The man who bankrupted Leeds. How on earth that man is allowed to sit in judgement on the executives of another club God only knows…
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Colburn added 22:16 - May 20

Bryan K, you are spot on. I think Sports Republic actually need to sell the club so we can start afresh with a new slate. Without this, I see a long drawn out recovery just to be another Championship mid table club.
I don’t understand how officials of clubs can be on the EFL board, it’s total corruption.. conflict of interests is a joke, it’s utterly ridiculous to have these people on the board of the competition they compete in.
Sadly, Tonda has to go, he’s ruined us.. stunned beyond belief..

mgprobert added 22:26 - May 20 Saints admitted to spying before the semi finals. So they should not have been in the semi finals - surely Wrexham have a good case to be allowed to play the semi final v Middlesbrough now?
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Colburn added 22:31 - May 20 The whole thing is a sham. Wrexham will be unhappy and Hull totally stitched.. wonder how that has happened? Surely the EFL board are impartial?
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Rossm2006 added 22:32 - May 20 No season tickets for me either next season after 40 + years . Sadly the club has become rotten in the last 4 years , I don’t recognise it. Non league is more fun
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Oldmatelot added 22:37 - May 20 Half our players will be poached by the premier league. We will need to replace them what player worth anything will sign for us? The manager will go and what manager in his right mind will take us on? Season ticket sales will plummet. Ticket prices will increase to cover the losses. Start with a deficit of four points. League one here we come.
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bstokesaint added 22:44 - May 20

Just before signing off for the night, all I would say to all those thinking of jacking in the season tickets, this all feels pretty raw right now. Leave it a few weeks to see how the club deals with it. I reckon we might start seeing some big changes from tomorrow! Plus the club will surely have to compensate fans for this season. I’m not sure if they’ll go as far as to reimburse for any games (maybe the playoff matches), but I think the most logical way is to offer huge discount renewals to this season’s ticket holders. That’s the least they can do.

SanMarco added 00:33 - May 21

Just been reading all the comments in the Echo and a surprising number think that Tonda should stay. There are even a few that seem to believe that he didn't know about the rule!! On here at least we are less naive. He should have gone days ago. Perhaps I'm equally naive for thinking that immediate dismissal of guilty parties might have made a difference, of course we may have then lost the Mboro tie but at least we'd have been ahead of the game over the inquiry.

I just can't get my head around the stupidity of all this. A crime that gained us so little and has and will cost us so much.

saintmark1976 added 08:07 - May 21

Morning SanMarco.

I’ve never met or spoken to you but by virtue of some of our exchange of opinions over the years I get the impression that like myself you have many more years behind you than in front of you.Forgive me it I’m incorrect.

If it helps I was hopeful of waking up this morning feeling better about the whole situation. In fact I’m even more angry and disillusioned.

I want my “ Saints” back and that’s only going to happen when Tonda, our current Owners and Sports Republic are gone.

Nothing else will suffice for me.

saintpete01 added 08:35 - May 21 The Supporters Fans and Team have been fantastic SPORTS REPUBLIC YOU HAVE NOT SPORTS REPUBLIC GET OUT OF OUR CLUB
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SanMarco added 08:47 - May 21

Morning saintmark
Sadly, you are right about the age – and I feel I’ve aged even further over the last two weeks.

Sorry to hear you are not in recovery mode yet. I am so ‘glass half empty’ about everything that I will recover quicker than many. Even a total pessimist like me has been floored by what’s happened though. It’s rare that things turn out to be EVEN WORSE than I feared.

Do you remember when fairly early on in the sh1tshow I posted an extremely anxious (and I’m sure, as is my way, rather pompous) set of things I was worried about and you reassured me? If you’d known the full facts THEN you’d have said something very different. I think you reassured me because of the club’s quiet strategy – which certainly seemed to suggest that it was a storm in a teacup. In other words you put a certain amount of TRUST in the club, trust that my glass one-tenth full anxieties would never allow me (My first ever Saints match as a young kid we were 3-0 down after 5 mins – the Freudians can probably explain a lot from that!!)

Now that trust has been totally betrayed and your last paragraph eloquently says what has to happen. Total clear out followed by REAL honesty is the only way to win us back.

I’m sure you are only a day or two behind me in beginning to feel better. The sackings should start today!!
Cheers

saintmark1976 added 09:06 - May 21 SanMarco. Thanks for the kind reply. I most certainly did tell you that and I was wrong. There, they say that confession is good for the soul but frankly I don’t feel any better ! Look after yourself.
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dowater added 09:29 - May 21

before we go and make any rash decisions, lets let the bitter taste disappear for our mouths for just 1 second before we start asking for managerial sackings etc.

i know a lot of you will want Tonda to be sacked and probably for a good reason. but lets look at what we have had before this and what may come after this. we have all complained about the past 4 managers and their lack of skills and inability to lead us in any sort of way. but for once we had a manager that has brought us up, made the players a cohesive unit, played some good football and taken us on a 19 game unbeaten run. at the back end of last year, we didnt even think that the playoffs were even possible. but here we are. and had this not happened, we would be applauding him for a good job done.

so with all that said. lets face it, we have all made mistakes and done things wrong, sometimes even cheated to win. LETS BE HONEST...

so all i say is, do we want to get rid of a manager that has done so well, for what another roll of the dice and another "up and coming" manager. or do we want to stick with Tonda, get behind the team and have a real chance of getting promoted next year again? or would you rather take your chances with the next journey man and have a new manager by christmas and hope that we go on a good run and make the paly offs again.

beynali73 added 10:13 - May 21

What a f**k up. Gutted. Agree with the posts above that all of those responsible need to get out of the club asap. Always been proud of Saints, even in the dark days of mid 2000's, but this is beyond belief. The club is tarnished for the next few decades. i was too young to remember Don Revies Leeds but even today we always refer to them as Dirty Leeds.

COYRs - post Sports Republic

SanMarco added 10:43 - May 21

Hi dowater

Tonda is toast whatever we think. I'm surprised any fans believe he can possibly stay. It is almost certainly true that his organised cheating operation wasn't a significant reason for his success (an excellent argument for how stupid it was) but that success now means nothing. Its like a dope cheat in athletics - everything is totally and for ever down the toilet. Tonda is a good young manager but he is exposed as a cheat who has caused one of the greatest calamities in Saints history. If that is NOT a sackable offence then there will be a good dozen previous managers wondering why they went in recent years. Puel went after coming 8th in the Prem, and without cheating at all.

Lots of fans are worried about all the cheat songs/chants next season - Tonda in the technical area will not help with that.

He will go, today I suspect - the club won't wait until he gets a 12 month suspension.

Its all very sad but Tonda brought this pile of sh1te down on us - all the pain of the last couple of weeks and in the coming times are at his door. Yes - others will share responsibility but he ordered this.

wessexman added 11:11 - May 21 The true implications and fall out will become clear when we look at the Championship table come Christmas next season. In the mean time, SFC should start doing the decent thing and sack everyone responsible for gross misconduct as soon as possible.
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highfield49 added 12:03 - May 21

Just about my only consolation at present is that many of those gloating supporters, of any club, are potentially destined for equal or worse misery in the future.
My thoughts this morning centre around the return of Nigel Adkins as manager, the complete antidote to the current shit show? Should Nigel be willing and available he could ensure that honesty, integrity and sportsmanship are rapidly reassociated with our club. Damage repair is probably more important than ambition at present and a reset is essential.
Whilst a manager with Nigel's attributes might not necessarily take us to automatic promotion at least I, for one, could watch the team without feeling a sense of shame and disillusionment.

halftimeorange added 12:06 - May 21

I haven't posted anything speculative on here regarding this matter and I still don't think the dust has settled as I believe there is a fair chance of FA charges successfully being made against the club and individuals. I also think that there is a possibility of crowd trouble particularly at away games with opposition fans labelling our supporters as cheats, which won't go down well with our more ardent supporters. I have been in East Anglia for the past few days and the word "cheat" was being bandied about. If asked, how many will own up to being from Southampton, not many, I bet. It might sound drastic but, if I was Dragan Solak I'd dispose of the club asap. The sale of players should cover any losses. It will be a real gamble for anyone to buy in to such a discredited organisation.