Saints given their marching orders: Southampton's last-gasp appeal fails after Spygate chaos
Middlesbrough will now replace Southampton in Saturday's Championship Play-Off Final against Hull City at Wembley
Southampton's last-gasp appeal against their expulsion from the Championship Play-Off Final for spying on Middlesbrough has failed.
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The Saints' punishment has been upheld by the English Football League (EFL), with Boro now set to face Hull City for a place in the Premier League.
The Play-Off Final has been dubbed the "richest game in football" because the winner stands to pocket a minimum of £200m should they enter England's top-flight.
Southampton were dramatically booted out on Tuesday after admitting to spying on Boro before the second leg was played at St Mary's Stadium, as well as being handed a four-point deduction for next season.
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The club did not immediately publicly acknowledge the sanctions, but a statement released on Wednesday in which Chief Executive Phil Parsons said sorry to its fans involved, while also confirming an appeal has been lodged.
But an EFL statement released on Wednesday confirmed that 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 statement added: "The determination means that the original sanction of expulsion from the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs 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 scandal emerged when a figure with a camera was seen peeking out from behind a tree at Boro’s training ground earlier this month, and has reportedly left the future of some of Southampton's senior staff in doubt.
The suspected "spy" involved is reported to have parked at a nearby golf club and then walked a couple of hundred yards down a road to the spot with a view of the training site.
He was seen pointing his mobile at the training session while wearing headphones.
Middlesbrough staff believe he may have been on a video call and was live-streaming the training session.
He was approached by a member of Boro staff but refused to identify himself before "deleting content" on his phone and running off towards the golf club.
Middlesbrough's photographer took photos and matched him to a photo on the Southampton website. One of those pictures was subsequently made public last week, and the side immediately reported the incident to the EFL.