This is not the kind of hype the New England Patriots wanted weeks before their Super Bowl match-up against the Seattle Seahawks. The latest on the “Deflate-Gate” is that the Patriots had under-inflated most of the footballs used during their AFC Championship Game versus the Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots won convincingly, 45-7 but the new development cast doubts on how clean the Patriots were in trying to win that conference championship game.

"We are not commenting at this time," NFL's senior vice president of communications said Greg Aiello to ESPN.com after reports reached the media on Wednesday. According to sources by ESPN’s football writer Chris Mortensen, the National Football League (NFL) has found after initial investigation that “11 of 12 of New England Patriots game balls were inflated significantly less than the NFL requires.”

The NFL rules states that home teams are allowed to make available 12 primary balls and 12 back-up balls and the visiting can provide up to 12 back-up balls in games played outdoors. The referees are mandated to test the balls two hours and 15 minutes before kick-off. The Patriots have mentioned that the are fully cooperating with league officials with regards to the “Deflate-Gate” investigation while Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady called the under-inflating footballs allegations as “ridiculous” in a radio show.

In another report from cbssports.com, there are also accusations against the Patriots by some Baltimore Ravens players saying that there were some under-inflated footballs used in their AFC divisional match-up game on Jan. 10, 2015. The Patriots beat the Ravens in a close game, 35-31.

The league is expected to finish the investigation in two to three days according to Troy Vincent, the league’s senior executive vice president of football operations. In 2007, the Patriots and head coach Bil Belichick were fined a total of $750,000 and cost the team a future first round draft pick when the league found them guilty of video-taping opponents’ signals. If found guilty again, the Patriots will most likely be stripped of draft picks again and fined a considerable amount.

Email j.gloria@IBTimes.com.au to contact author of this article.

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