Aston Villa have remained silent after Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson tabled allegations against the club of potentially flaunting the Championship’s financial regulations, according to the Telegraph.
The newspaper claim that the Boro chief has urged a Football League investigation into the Villans, as well as Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday, as he insists the trio of clubs are taking illicit measures to avoid falling foul of the rules in place.
It is stated that when approached about the allegations, Villa refused to comment while the newspaper’s sources at Derby insist they are working within the boundaries of the law, and that a special meeting between all the Championship clubs has been arranged for next week.
Opinion
The Championship has seen more and more clubs putting their noses into their rivals business and you can imagine many would argue that they need to focus on their own clubs rather than what others are up to. However, there are rules and regulations in place to ensure that the Championship remains a fair and competitive division and Birmingham have already fallen foul of those, suffering a points penalty as a result. Villa are wise to remain silent on the subject, especially after their well documented financial struggles last summer. You can be sure that the EFL will already have taken a close eye into their operations and whether or not they have breached any rules in place. They have nothing to prove despite Gibson’s allegations and it should be the Middlesbrough man providing the evidence when making such a significant claim. The second tier is getting feisty off the pitch as well as on it – but will it have any impact come the end of the season? Only time will tell.