Hull City owner Acun Ilicali has confirmed he will pursue legal action if his team loses to Middlesbrough in the Championship play-off final at Wembley this afternoon. The Turkish businessman had hinted earlier in the week at this possibility after Middlesbrough were reinstated to the play-offs following Southampton's expulsion amid the Spygate scandal.
The Tigers face Boro with a Premier League place at stake, in what is often described as the richest game in football, worth approximately £200 million to the winning side. Ilicali is adamant that Middlesbrough should never have been allowed back into the competition after losing their semi-final to Southampton.
"Our legal team says that we have to go for action, that's for sure," Ilicali told BBC Radio Humberside ahead of kick-off at Wembley. "So we have no doubt about it. Here, all we want is justice. If justice is broken, nobody will enjoy football."
Ilicali Criticises Decision as 'Incredibly Wrong'
Ilicali described the EFL's decision to allow Middlesbrough to re-enter the play-offs as "an incredibly wrong decision." He questioned why the league did not investigate before the semi-finals and replace Southampton with Wrexham instead of reinstating an eliminated team.
"If this action was so big that a team is out of the play-offs, why didn't they let them not play the semi-final, investigate and take Southampton out and put Wrexham in?" he asked. "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 Chairman Dismisses Result Overturn
EFL Chairman Rick Parry quickly dismissed any suggestion that the play-off final result could be overturned. When asked if he believed the result would stand, Parry told Talksport: "I hope so, yes of course. We have to move on, the season has to finish – players are going off to the World Cup on Monday. We all need clarity now and we all need certainty."
Parry added: "What we have a habit of doing in football, all the precedents say that however frustrating it can be at times, you tend to look at punishments prospectively. If you had to unravel the whole of the previous season's league table, you would never get a competition finished, so that is always a guiding principle: punishments happen forwards, not backwards."
Background of the Spygate Scandal
Southampton were expelled from the play-offs on Tuesday, and their appeal was rejected the following day, handing Middlesbrough a reprieve just 72 hours before the final. The Saints admitted to spying on Boro's training sessions ahead of the semi-final, clearly breaching EFL rules. They also confessed to spying on Oxford and Ipswich's training before matches earlier in the season.
Southampton accepted their actions were wrong and apologised, but maintained that the punishment was too harsh. After their appeal was rejected, the club stated: "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."
Ilicali's Focus on the Game
Ilicali, who took over Hull in 2022, had refrained from discussing the independent disciplinary commission's ruling before the final to avoid distracting his players. "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," he added. "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."
