Spygate: Southampton could be thrown out of Championship play-offs if found guilty of alleged spying on Middlesbrough

It is possible that Southampton could be thrown out of the Championship play-offs and denied the chance of promotion to the Premier League if an independent commission upholds the charge that they spied on a Middlesbrough training session in the build-up to their play-off semi-final.

But it is also possible that the commission decides Southampton are guilty of no offence, and that the charge is dismissed. There is a whole range of possible punishments in between those two extremes.

The timing of the hearing is down to the commission, but Sky Sports News has been told that the commission is fully aware of the expediency needed at this stage of the season, with the Championship play-off final taking place on May 23, live on Sky Sports.

• Emotional Boro boss Hellberg hits out at 'disgraceful spying'
• Report & highlights: Southampton 2-1 Middlesbrough - Agg 2-1 (AET)
• Got Sky? Watch the EFL play-offs on the Sky Sports app
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If the commission decides to impose a sporting sanction, it might be that the punishment is held over to the start of next season.

The key considerations for the commission are: is there enough evidence to establish wrongdoing? And is that wrongdoing worthy of a significant sporting sanction?

In essence, does the punishment fit the crime? Would it be a fair outcome if Southampton were denied possible promotion to the Premier League, with all the kudos and financial gain that brings, based on this alleged wrongdoing?

The commission has the independence and freedom to impose whatever sanction they deem appropriate, and that could be anything from a charge dismissed, a slap on the wrist, a monetary fine, a sporting sanction, or even a sporting sanction which costs Southampton their place in the play-offs.

If the commission does not impose a sporting sanction, the timing of the play-offs is irrelevant.

But we are in uncharted territory here. Yes, there is the precedent of what happened with Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds United in 2019, whereby the club was fined £200,000, but the EFL rules have been changed as a result of that.

Rule 3.4 has been in place for many years - whereby clubs have to always deal with each other "in good faith" - that was the charge levelled at Leeds, that they had not done so.

But since 2019, rule 127 has been in place, which expressly prohibits any club from observing, or attempting to observe, another club's training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match.

Southampton have been charged with breaching both rules 3.4 and 127.

Southampton beat Boro 2-1 at St Mary's after extra-time on Tuesday to reach the Wembley showpiece, where Tonda Eckert's side are set to face Hull after their semi-final victory over Millwall.

Sky Sports News has been told the EFL and the commission are aware that there are three teams with a vested interest in the resolution of this matter - Southampton, Middlesbrough and Hull, and that it is not just a matter of two of those teams being prepared to take part in the play-off final, but also the fans of the clubs, ticket sales, travel and other logistics need to be organised in good time too.

That is why everyone wants a quick resolution to this, but the matter is in the hands of the independent commission and outside the EFL's control.

Despite the ongoing investigation and the threat of being thrown out of the play-offs, Southampton are pressing ahead with plans for the play-off final. They have posted on X that information about tickets will be released on Wednesday afternoon, and tickets will go on sale on Thursday.

What are Boro's plans after loss to Saints?

Sky Sports News' Keith Downie:

Middlesbrough players are due to report back to their training ground on Thursday as planned.

The idea was always to give the players Wednesday off, and then return on Thursday for a debrief on the semi-final.

Had they reached the final, they would have been given the weekend off before reconvening on Monday to begin preparations for the play-off final.

In the event of Boro being eliminated, the players and staff would have been off on holiday from Friday. But that is up in the air at the moment as the independent commission looks into the charge against Southampton.

Emotional Boro boss Hellberg hits out at 'disgraceful spying'

Boro boss Kim Hellberg said the 'Spygate' saga that overshadowed the Championship play-off semi-final defeat to Southampton was "disgraceful" and "breaks my heart".

The Swede said: "I worked 15 years as a coach, trying to get to the Premier League. That's my dream for 15 years," he said in his post-match press conference.

"I know there are clubs with bigger resources or parachute payments that can spend more money. There are teams that have bigger squads than us, teams that have more money to spend.

"What you have as a coach and a group is the tactical element of the game where we can beat the opponent and I think that's what everyone loves about the game. That's why I look at England and think it's the home of football, where I want to be, what I'm dreaming about. You're so proud of your football and I think that's absolutely amazing, that's why I wanted to be here.

"When you have more money and all those things, you try to find a way to get an advantage, that's the way I try to go with my team. That's what you always try to do, because we can be better in that element.

"Alex Neil said a very good thing after the (Millwall) game. He said 'I think I let people down as we haven't won'. In that way, he said he had let people down. That's often the feeling a coach goes home with because you think, what I could control was the tactical aspect of the game or helping my players more.

"When you have done that and, for a week or two weeks up to this game, put every second away from your family to watch Southampton every game you can to try to gain the advantage that we can actually get, if we wouldn't have caught that man they sent up on a five-hour drive, you would sit there and say, well done, maybe, in the tactical aspect of the game and I would go home and feel like I had failed in that aspect I had to help my players with.

"When that is taken away from you in that way, when someone decides: 'No, we're not going to watch every game. We'll send someone instead and film the session and see everything and hope we don't get caught'. I guess that was why they were switching clothes and all those things.

"It breaks my heart in terms of all those things I believe in. That's the thing.

"I don't care if there are other rules in different countries. This is England where football is the biggest thing. "That's my feelings about it. I think it's disgraceful. It makes me very sad."

Asked if he believed Tonda Eckert knew of the alleged 'spying', Hellberg said, simply: "I cannot answer. No comment."

Eckert walks out again

Southampton boss Tonda Eckert, meanwhile, again walked out of his post-match press conference over 'Spygate' questions, having done so after Saturday's goalless draw at the Riverside Stadium.

Eckert stormed out when the second question of Tuesday's post-match press conference was: "Are you a cheat?"

The press officer who accompanied him swiftly shut it down and told the journalist in question to "show some respect".

(c) Sky Sports 2026: Spygate: Southampton could be thrown out of Championship play-offs if found guilty of alleged spying on Middlesbrough