Southampton have been kicked out of Saturday’s Championship playoff final and docked four points for the 2026-27 season after admitting to spying on three different opponents during the course of the season. An appeal was officially dismissed on Wednesday, days after they admitted that they had not only spied against playoff semifinal opponents Middlesbrough but also Ipswich Town and Oxford United during the season.
From the EFL:
A League Arbitration Panel has tonight dismissed Southampton Football Club’s appeal against the Independent Disciplinary Commission’s sanction following the admittance of multiple breaches of EFL Regulations.
The determination means that the original sanction of expulsion from the Sky Bet Championship PlayOffs remains in place, as does the four-point deduction to be applied to the 2026/27 Championship table and the reprimand in respect of all charges.
The Club submitted its appeal following yesterday’s decision of the Independent Disciplinary Commission in respect of breaches of EFL Regulations. As per EFL Regulations, the decision of the League Arbitration Panel is final and cannot be appealed.
Following the conclusion of the proceedings, the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final between Hull City and Middlesbrough is confirmed as taking place at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 23 May, kicking off at 3:30 p.m.
The League Arbitration Panel’s written reasons will be published in due course along with the Independent Disciplinary Commission’s full decision.
As a result, it is Middlesbrough, Southampton’s semifinal opponent, who will take their place in the Wembley final, facing off against Hull City for the near $300 million prize of promotion to the Premier League.
Boro players returned to training on May 18, six days after what appeared to be their elimination, and will now be favorites to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2017. The club welcomed their involvement in the final in a statement, saying: “We believe this sends out a clear message for the future of our game regarding sporting integrity and conduct. As a club, we are now focused on our game against Hull City at Wembley on Saturday.”
Boro made a formal complaint to the EFL on May 7, alleging that they had spotted a member of Southampton staff at their training ground three days out from the first leg of the semifinal. Pictures subsequently emerged the following week that showed an analyst with his phone, seemingly recording Middlesbrough’s session, immediately casting into doubt the 2-1 aggregate win for Tonda Eckert’s side.
Eckert’s record at Southampton will surely now come under scrutiny, given that the first admitted case of spying came less than two months after he took the job following the sacking of Will Still. At the time of his appointment, the Saints were 21st in the Championship and only three points separated them from the relegation zone. The 72 points Southampton won under Eckert were five more than any team in the English second tier during the same time period, enough to secure them fourth place in the division.
Of the three games that Southampton admitted to spying before, they won none, losing at Oxford and drawing against Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough. The inevitable outcome of admitting to breaches of regulations that require clubs to “act with the utmost good faith” is to bring with it questions as to which other opponents might have had their training sessions monitored by Southampton eyes.
