The English Football League has formally charged Southampton with spying on Middlesbrough prior to their Championship play-off semi-final clash on Saturday.
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According to information obtained by BBC Sport, a performance analyst from Southampton is alleged to have recorded Middlesbrough’s training session and taken photographs of tactical notes on Thursday morning.
The individual in question was reportedly caught, deleted the material, and left the scene. However, Middlesbrough officials were deeply angered by the incident and subsequently reported it to the EFL.
In a statement released on Friday evening, the EFL said: “Southampton Football Club has today been charged with a breach of EFL regulations, and the matter will be referred to an independent disciplinary commission.”
The statement added: “This follows a request from the EFL for the club’s observations after a complaint from Middlesbrough relating to alleged unauthorised filming on private property ahead of the two clubs’ meeting in Saturday’s Championship play-off semi-final first leg.”
Southampton are accused of violating two specific rules:
– **EFL Regulation 3.4**, which requires clubs to act toward each other with the utmost good faith
– **EFL Regulation 127**, which prohibits any club from observing, or attempting to observe, another club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match between them
The EFL noted that under normal circumstances, Southampton would have 14 days to respond to the charges. However, given the urgency of the matter, the league will request that the independent disciplinary commission shorten the response period and schedule a hearing as soon as possible.
Southampton responded by acknowledging the EFL’s statement and confirming their full cooperation with the investigation. “Given the ongoing nature of the matter, the club is unable to comment any further at this time,” they added.
The first leg of the semi-final is scheduled for Saturday at the Riverside Stadium (12:30 BST), with the return match taking place at St Mary’s on Tuesday.
This is not the first case of its kind in English football. Seven years ago, Leeds United were fined £200,000 by the EFL for spying on opponents before matches. That incident came to light when a Leeds staff member was spotted acting suspiciously outside Derby County’s training ground before a fixture on 10 January 2019.
Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa later admitted that he had sent a staff member to watch the training sessions of every team Leeds had faced that season. The EFL ruled that Leeds had breached regulations regarding treating opponents with good faith.
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