Southampton moved to the St Mary's Stadium in 2001
An independent inquiry into Southampton's finances will be launched by the Football League before deciding on whether the club will be punished.
Parent company Southampton Leisure Holding was placed in administration last week after it admitted it needed extra money to have a future.
They had debts of £27.5m, reportedly made up of financial liabilities of £23.1m and an overdraft of £4.4m.
And the club could be deducted 10 points as a result of this move.
"The League board has told its legal team to commission a report to clarify the legal and financial position of the club," said a statement.
It is possible that putting the parent company into administration - thus wiping out a significant proportion of the club's debt - could save the club from a points deduction.
Joint-administrator Mark Fry welcomed the League's decision to launch an inquiry.
"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 reduction," he said.
"In our view this indicates that 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."
Should Southampton suffer a points deduction and are also relegated, then the penalty will not be applied until the following season.
If the Saints stay in the Championship, then any points penalty would be added to their total this season, which could ultimately result in their relegation to League One anyway.
Clubs such as Leeds and Luton, who were hit with points deductions themselves after going into administration, would be angry if Southampton avoided such a fate.
Chief executive Rupert Lowe, Saints chairman Michael Wilde and director Andrew Cowen resigned from the company last week, although a statement from SLH said the club was "unaffected by these insolvency proceedings".
The business is heavily in debt after spending more than £30m on the 32,000-seat St Mary's Stadium, which they moved to from The Dell in 2001, before being relegated from the Premier League in 2005.
Southampton are three points from safety with six games remaining in the Championship.
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