Which makes the whole damn thing utterly pointless. You could perhaps understand the temptation to spy if the rewards far outstripped the risks, but there was almost nothing to be gained and everything to lose by engaging in such activities.
Not that it exonerates the club, or changes the outcome, but I'm still hoping that whoever sanctioned this was blissfully ignorant of the rules, because it's unforgivable if it was carried out in willful floutation of the rules.