Hull City owner Acun Ilicali launched an incredible tirade ahead of Saturday’s EFL Championship playoff final to decide the last side promoted to the Premier League, threatening legal action if his club lose to Middlesbrough while also declaring that Wrexham were worthy of a place in the post-season.
Ilicali’s unexpected outburst shortly before kickoff at Wembley came as the latest chapter in the ongoing scandal gripping English soccer: ‘Spygate.’
Southampton admitted to spying on Middlesbrough’s training session in the days leading up to the first leg of their playoff semifinal earlier this month. The Saints were charged by the English Football League (EFL) and subsequently owned up to conducting illicit surveillance on three rival teams’ training sessions this season. Before a punishment had been decided, Southampton defeated Boro across two legs of the semifinal to theoretically book their spot in the playoff final against Hull.
However, the EFL took the stunning decision to expel the Saints from the playoff final—a penalty which was upheld upon appeal—and reinstate the beaten Middlesbrough.
Hull chief Ilcali has called Boro’s inclusion “unbelievable,” asking why the playoffs weren’t halted once accusations of spying were first made. In that scenario, the Tigers boss argued that the fairest outcome would have been to decide Southampton’s punishment before the semifinals took place and then, when it was established that they should be thrown out, hand a reprieve to Wrexham as the highest ranked team to miss out on a spot in the playoffs.
“If this action was so big that a team is out of the playoffs, why didn’t they let them not play the semifinal, investigate and take Southampton out and put Wrexham in?” Ilcali asked the BBC in a radio interview outside Wembley Stadium.
“Why is Wrexham out now? Put Wrexham in and continue the competition. For me, an eliminated team [being] put back—also our lawyers say this and that’s their opinion too—is an incredibly wrong decision.”
EFL Threatened With Legal Case for the Ages
The playoff final to decide who will join Coventry City and Ipswich Town in the Premier League next season will not end with Saturday’s final whistle at Wembley if Hull City lose. Ilcali promised the EFL a trip to court should his club get knocked out by a team that lost their playoff semifinal.
“Our legal team says that we have to go for action, that’s for sure,” Ilcali warned. “So we have no doubt about it. Here, all we want is justice. If justice is broken, nobody will enjoy football.”
Promotion to the Premier League is worth a minimum of $268.5 million (£200 million) in extra income thanks to the wildly swollen TV revenues and prize money available to England’s top-flight clubs. With those eye-watering figures on the line, it’s little surprise Ilcali is prepared to take extreme measures. Ideally, however, promotion will be decided on the pitch.
“Now I can talk a little more because now the boys are in the stadium and they will not hear me. I didn’t want to make their focus disturbed,” Ilcali explained. “Decisions are discussable from what I understand from our lawyers, very discussable.
“But of course we have to focus on the game and the boys are tough enough to overcome these difficulties.”
