{"id":3390,"date":"2026-05-21T08:56:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T08:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3390"},"modified":"2026-05-21T00:28:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T00:28:06","slug":"southampton-expelled-from-worlds-most-lucrative-football-match-for-spying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3390","title":{"rendered":"Southampton expelled from world\u2019s most lucrative football match for spying"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Southampton have been expelled from the English Football League (EFL) Championship playoff final after admitting to spying on a training session of semifinal opponents Middlesbrough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Middlesbrough have been reinstated as a result of Tuesday\u2019s decision and are set to face Hull at Wembley on Saturday for a place in English football\u2019s Premier League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Asake - Organise (Official Video)\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_u4_iWCvZ5c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The match is regarded as the most lucrative in world football, given the winner is promoted to the Premier League \u2013 the richest club competition in the global game \u2013 and receives 200 million British pounds ($268m) in extra income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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, according to a statement from the EFL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAn independent disciplinary commission has today expelled Southampton from the Sky Bet Championship play-offs,\u201d the EFL said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Southampton, relegated from the Premier League last season, confirmed they would appeal the sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The EFL said the parties were working to ensure an appeal could be heard on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSubject to the outcome, it could result in a further change to Saturday\u2019s fixture,\u201d the EFL said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A member of the Southampton coaching staff was caught by Middlesbrough officials recording training on his phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first leg ended 0-0 before Southampton progressed with a 2-1 win after extra time in the second leg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Middlesbrough issued a statement welcoming the outcome of the disciplinary commission hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe believe this sends out a clear message for the future of our game regarding sporting integrity and conduct,\u201d the statement said. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/5\/19\/southampton-expelled-from-worlds-most-lucrative-football-match-for-spying\">(AlJazeera)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Southampton have been expelled from the English Football League (EFL) Championship playoff final after admitting to spying on a training session of semifinal opponents Middlesbrough. Middlesbrough have been reinstated as a result of Tuesday\u2019s decision and are set to face Hull at Wembley on Saturday for a place in English football\u2019s Premier League. The match [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[3468,3498,298,2972,1228,2168,3159],"class_list":["post-3390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-championship","tag-english-football-league","tag-english-premier-league","tag-hull-city","tag-middlesbrough","tag-playoff","tag-southampton"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Southampton expelled from world\u2019s most lucrative football match for spying - Tona Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Southampton have been expelled from the English Football League (EFL) Championship playoff final after admitting to spying on\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3390\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Southampton expelled from world\u2019s most lucrative football match for spying - 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