The Football League officially opens investigation into ‘Spygate’

After embarrassing Frank Lampard’s Derby County on the pitch on Friday night, Leeds United will now have both the FA and the Football League investigating the club for possible rules breaches in regards to the alleged “spying” incident that took place Thursday.

Per the official statement from the EFL’s official website:

The EFL has now determined that it is appropriate to consider this matter in the context of a number of EFL Regulations whilst also noting that the alleged actions appear to contravene the Club’s Charter that all EFL Clubs agreed to in summer 2018.

The decision to progress this matter to a formal investigation comes as a result of the Club’s manager, Marcelo Bielsa, admitting to instructing an individual to undertake the acts being complained of in a television interview broadcast on Sky Sports on Friday 11 January 2019.

The Football Association has also confirmed they are considering the same matter in line with its own rules and the EFL will work with its FA counterparts to ensure that any potential action taken does not prejudice those investigations being undertaken.

So now both the FA and the EFL are investigating the “spygate” incident against Leeds United. I suppose investigating “spying,” which has been done for years by multiple teams, is a much better use of resources than investigating alleged incidents of racism, sexual abuse against minors, or the financial shenanigans from an owner who is not paying the players over at Bolton Wanderers.

Going against the “charter” seems like a trumped-up charge, and it begs the question that if “spying” on another team is so bad, then why isn’t it explicitly against the rules in the first place? The flimsy parallel from American sports is the “Spygate” scandal by the New England Patriots, but in that case the videotaping was actually a violation of the rules, not just going against the “spirit” of the game or whatever the charge is against Leeds.

In short, this stinks. Leeds fans are convinced the EFL and the FA are biased against the club, and investigations like this seem to only confirm that both are biased against Leeds. This whole thing stinks.