Thursday 25 April 2019 12:35, UK
Derby County invited Middlesbrough owner Steve Gibson to scrutinise the club's accounts in private last month, Sky Sports News understands.
The invitation, which was declined, came after Gibson first voiced doubts over Derby's compliance with EFL financial rules.
Gibson was the leading voice in a group of Sky Bet Championship clubs who, on Wednesday, called for a change in the rules which would have meant all 24 clubs making their financial statements public, rather than submitting them in confidence to the EFL.
Boro's owner feared that, whilst the EFL had issued no sanctions, Derby, Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday had not operated in the spirit of the rules.
After a meeting, which took place at Nottingham Forest's City Ground that lasted almost five hours, the proposal was rejected by the remaining Championship clubs.
It has also emerged that Gibson did not attend the meeting to push his case personally - instead, the club's chief executive Neil Bausor was Middlesbrough's representative.
Sky Sports News has approached Middlesbrough for comment, but so far they have declined to do so.
One Championship club - Birmingham City - has already fallen foul of EFL financial regulations this season.
The Blues were handed a nine-point deduction which put them under threat of relegation - a threat that has recently been extinguished after they moved back on to 50 points.
