LEEDS FINED £200,000 AFTER SPYING ON RIVALS
LEEDS UNITED have escaped with a £200,000 fine for spying on the training sessions of their opponents, avoiding a points deduction despite the planned introduction of a new regulation banning such activity. A member of the Elland Road club’s staff was spotted outside Derby County’s training ground on January 10 ahead of a clash between the two sides, with manager Marcelo Bielsa then making the astonishing admission that he had been sending spies to watch all their opponents train this season. That led to calls for the Championship promotion hopefuls to be deducted points for what was a breach of English Football League rules that demand opposing teams are treated with ‘good faith’. But while they were publicly reprimanded last night by both the EFL and the Football Association, a fine has been considered sufficient on this occasion. A statement from the EFL said that Leeds’ conduct ‘fell significantly short of the standards expected’ and ‘must not be repeated’, with outgoing chief executive Shaun Harvey — who joined the EFL from Leeds — adding: ‘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. ‘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.’ In their statement, the EFL said ‘the regulation will make it clear that clubs will be expressly prohibited from viewing opposition training in the 72 hours immediately prior to a fixture, unless invited to do so’. In their own statement, Leeds said: ‘We accept that whilst we have not broken any specific rule, we have fallen short of the standard expected by the EFL. ‘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.’