with a 2-1 win against Middlesbrough in the semi-final tie\u2019s second leg<\/a>. <\/p>\nIt put the Saints one step closer towards promotion to the Premier League \u2013 which comes with an estimated $370 million windfall \u2013 but the victory was tainted by the cheating allegations, with fans bringing binoculars to the venue.<\/p>\n
The ordeal has striking similarities to an incident in 2019 when Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa was fined \u00a3200,000 (AU$372,000) for sending someone to spy on Derby, following which the EFL introduced regulation 127, a new rule preventing teams from watching another club\u2019s training sessions within 72 hours of a match.<\/p>\n
An independent disciplinary commission will be tasked with deciding Southampton\u2019s fate, a process managed by mediation company Sport Resolutions; the potential punishments range from a fine to a points penalty for next season.<\/p>\n
Middlesbrough could also be given a default 3-0 win in first leg of the semi-final tie \u2013 a rare but not unprecedented option \u2013 which would result in them qualifying for the final against Hull City in Southampton\u2019s place.<\/p>\n
However, the three-person panel is running out of time to come to a verdict, with tickets for the playoff final going on sale on Thursday, nine days before the match. Delaying the final is highly unlikely due to venue availability.<\/p>\n
Subsequently, Middlesbrough has been left in a state of limbo; club owner Steve Gibson has reportedly engaged the services of Nick de Marco, a sports lawyer, while the players are set to return to training on Friday to prepare for a potential appearance in the playoff final. Elsewhere, multiple other clubs in the Championship are reportedly studying archival footage to see whether Southampton has tried spying on them as well, heaping more pressure on the Saints.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Middlesbrough goalkeeper Sol Brynn. Andrew Matthews\/PA via AP<\/span>Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSpeaking on talkSPORT Breakfast<\/i> this week, former Aston Villa star Gabby Agbonlahor argued that expelling Southampton from the playoff final would be too severe a punishment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t agree with it. It\u2019s overkill,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get it, Spygate, it\u2019s not on. But what would they really learn from watching Middlesbrough training? That\u2019s why it\u2019s so bizarre from Southampton. What are you going to learn that you can\u2019t see in every video of Middlesbrough\u2019s games this season?<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re by far the better team for me, it\u2019s very odd.\u201d <\/p>\n
On the possibility of Middlesbrough playing the next weekend\u2019s final, Agbonlahor added: \u201cIt\u2019s too much of a short turnaround.<\/p>\n
\u201cSouthampton players haven\u2019t done anything, fans haven\u2019t done anything, it\u2019s the club, the manager that\u2019s allowed that to happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cA massive fine and move on, I don\u2019t think you can start saying Boro get the final or Hull go straight up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hollywood star James Cordon also offered his two cents on the scandal, arguing that Southampton should pay Middlesbrough a portion of their broadcast revenue if they earn promotion to England\u2019s top flight.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Southampton go up they would make from the TV revenue, let\u2019s say it\u2019s \u00a3150 million, then you\u2019ve got to give 50 per cent of next year\u2019s revenue to Middlesbrough. Because you\u2019re cheating,\u201d he told talkSPORT.<\/p>\n
\u201cNext year, regardless of the league you\u2019re in, 50 per cent of your revenue or projected revenue will be paid as compensation. So if they go up they need to pay \u00a375 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we should also stop calling it spygate and call it cheating. It\u2019s just cheating, you\u2019re cheating the system, that\u2019s all you\u2019re doing. You\u2019re cheating those fans, you\u2019re cheating those players so therefore you should have to pay a severe and heavy price.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Middlesbrough & Thornaby East MP Andy McDonald posted to social media: \u201cSouthampton cannot be allowed to profit from their dishonesty. The EFL have to come down firmly and decisively on Southampton and they need to do it quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The EFL Championship playoff final will take place on at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, May 23, but Hull City still don\u2019t know who their opponent will be. The victor will earn a place in the Premier League next season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pressure is mounting on an independent disciplinary commission to come to a swift decision on the \u2018Spygate\u2019 scandal that has rocked English football, with more details emerging on Southampton\u2019s unauthorised filming of a Middlesbrough training session. There are growing calls for Southampton to be kicked out of the Championship play-offs after the club was charged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":243311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-243310","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}