{"id":244214,"date":"2026-05-19T22:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T22:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/19\/shocked-and-flabbergasted-southampton-kicked-out-of-promotion-final-over-spying-scandal-in-377m-pl-bombshell\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T22:05:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T22:05:00","slug":"shocked-and-flabbergasted-southampton-kicked-out-of-promotion-final-over-spying-scandal-in-377m-pl-bombshell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/19\/shocked-and-flabbergasted-southampton-kicked-out-of-promotion-final-over-spying-scandal-in-377m-pl-bombshell\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Shocked and flabbergasted\u2019: Southampton kicked out of promotion final over spying scandal in $377m PL bombshell"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Southampton were just expelled from the Championship play-off final after admitting to spying on a training session of semi-final opponents Middlesbrough.<\/p>\n

Middlesbrough have been reinstated and are set to face Hull at Wembley on Saturday for a place in the Premier League.<\/p>\n

Get all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportsmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

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Southampton will also be docked four points next season after admitting to multiple breaches of regulations related to the \u201cunauthorised filming of other clubs\u2019 training\u201d sessions<\/a>, according to a statement from the English Football League.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn independent disciplinary commission has today expelled Southampton from the Championship play-offs,\u201d the EFL said.<\/p>\n

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A Southampton intern films Middlesbrough training from behind a tree.<\/span>Source: Supplied<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Southampton, relegated from the Premier League last season, confirmed they would appeal the sanctions.<\/p>\n

According to a Sky Sports report, Southampton are \u201cshocked and flabbergasted\u201d by the verdict, adding they believe the sanction to be \u201cdisproportionate\u201d. Meanwhile, Hull are disappointed because have been preparing to face Southampton all week, the report claims.<\/p>\n

The EFL said the parties were working to ensure an appeal could be heard on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cSubject to the outcome, it could result in a further change to Saturday\u2019s fixture,\u201d the EFL said.<\/p>\n

Promotion to the Premier League is worth an estimated \u00a3200 million ($377 million) in extra revenue.<\/p>\n

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Tonda Eckert, manager of Southampton, reacts during the Championship playoff semi-final against Middlesbrough.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A member of the Southampton coaching staff was caught by Middlesbrough officials recording training on his phone.<\/p>\n

The EFL confirmed further charges had been laid against Southampton, and that the club had also admitted observing training sessions ahead of matches against Oxford and Ipswich.<\/p>\n

The first leg ended 0-0 before Southampton progressed with a 2-1 win after extra-time in the second leg.<\/p>\n

Middlesbrough issued a statement welcoming the outcome of the disciplinary commission hearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe this sends out a clear message for the future of our game regarding sporting integrity and conduct,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a club, we are now focused on our game against Hull City at Wembley on Saturday. Ticket information for our supporters will be available shortly.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kim Hellberg, manager of Middlesbrough, who will now contest the playoff\/promotion final.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Southampton have lost just once in their last 25 games, a 2-1 FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City.<\/p>\n

After a poor start to the season, they stormed into contention for promotion once Tonda Eckert took charge in November.<\/p>\n

However, the future of the German coach at St. Mary\u2019s is now in doubt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Southampton were just expelled from the Championship play-off final after admitting to spying on a training session of semi-final opponents Middlesbrough. Middlesbrough have been reinstated and are set to face Hull at Wembley on Saturday for a place in the Premier League. Get all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":244215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[3380,2982,73047,73048,85,1429,1425,73045,3391,1427,73043,12724,17347,854,73046,73044,1624,70717,2474,1856,19460],"class_list":{"0":"post-244214","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-city-of-southampton","9":"tag-coaching-staff","10":"tag-disciplinary-commission","11":"tag-disciplinary-commission-hearing","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-europe","14":"tag-getty-images-inc","15":"tag-independent-disciplinary-commission","16":"tag-mary","17":"tag-northern-europe","18":"tag-officials-recording-training","19":"tag-play-off-final","20":"tag-playoff-final","21":"tag-premier-league","22":"tag-promotion-blow","23":"tag-promotion-final","24":"tag-semi-final-opponents","25":"tag-tonda-eckert","26":"tag-training-session","27":"tag-united-kingdom","28":"tag-warren-little"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244214","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=244214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}