Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson has urged a clamp-down on financial cheats.
Gibson, who unveiled locally-born former Boro player Jonathan Woodgate as the Championship club's new head coach on Friday, is unhappy with the actions of Premier League-bound play-off final winners Aston Villa, their Wembley opponents last month Derby and Sheffield Wednesday.
Boro believe those second-tier clubs may have used unfair methods as they chased promotion.
Gibson said: “When you say finances are tight, what I am quite sure about is we have rules called Financial Fair Play and off the pitch it’s important every rule (is followed).
“If the rule is not going to be followed (then) don’t have it.
"If the rule is there, if we have have a centre-half who picks the ball up in the penalty area, I don’t expect the referee to ignore it. If a player deceives the referee, I don’t expect that to be ignored. And I don’t expect the EFL and other clubs to ignore Financial Fair Play.
“It’s there, it’s a rule, it’s an important rule, it needs to be followed. And if it’s not followed sanctions must be taken against those clubs that cheat.”
Woodgate set the tone for the “high standards” he says he will demand from his stars by pulling up Gibson — his boss — for not wearing a club tie to his introductory press conference, and jovially admonishing journalists for arriving to it 30 seconds late.
The former Leeds, Tottenham, Real Madrid and England defender, 39, was at Middlesbrough as a youngster and then had two further spells on their books as a player before joining their coaching staff in 2017.
He said: “I’ll have strong beliefs in keeping high standards. If you [the media] are late again, the press conference will start bang on at 12.30, simple as that. It’s the same with my players — if they’re late, the bus goes anyway.”
