League orders inqury into Saints´ accounts

English Football League chiefs have ordered an independent probe into the accounts of Championship strugglers Southampton before deciding whether the club should face a 10-point penalty.

Last week the south coast side’s parent company, Southampton Leisure Holdings (SLH) called in the administrators.

League rules, designed to encourage sound financial management of the clubs in the three divisions below the lucrative Premier League, state that if a side goes into administration it will be docked 10 points.

But Saints insist there is a difference between SLH and the football club itself which means they should avoid a punishment that has already been handed out to the likes of Rotherham and Luton this season.

“The League Board has instructed its legal advisors to commission an independent forensic accountancy report in order to clarify the legal and financial position of the club, as a matter of urgency,” a League statement, issued after their board meeting here on Tuesday, said.

“The Board will reconvene once that report is available.”

Mark Fry, the joint administrator of SLH, said in response: “Subject to the scope of the report we welcome the Football League’s initiative in commissioning an independent report into the legal and financial position of the club ahead of any decision being made on the possibility of a 10-point deduction.

“In our view this indicates the situation will be reviewed thoroughly and independently ahead of any decision made. We are confident of a successful outcome because in our view no rules have been breached.”

Southampton, second-bottom in the Championship, may well be relegated to the third tier of English football by conventional means. But a 10 points deduction would seal their fate.

The potentially tricky scenario for the League is if they find in Southampton’s favour or impose a 10-point penalty ahead of the start of next season with the Saints having saved themselves from the drop.

That could spark a challenge from clubs who are also facing relegation into League One while a deduction, which would damage Saints’s prospect of finding a new buyer, might lead to legal action from the Hampshire side.

Southampton’s financial plight is largely due to the costs incurred in building a new 30,000-seat stadium, St Mary’s, which have proved unmanageable in the aftermath of the club’s 2005 relegation from the Premier League.