The English Football League has charged Southampton Football Club for “alleged unauthorised filming” of rival team Middlesbrough ahead of their Championship playoff semi-final on Saturday.
On Friday, the EFL released a statement confirming the league had received a complaint from Middlesbrough, who alleged an individual connected to Southampton was spying on their training session ahead of the upcoming match at the Riverside Stadium.
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“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 EFL statement read.
“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 playoff semi-final first leg.”
The statement added: “Under EFL regulations, Southampton would ordinarily have 14 days to respond to the charges.
“However, given the nature of the matter, the EFL will ask the independent disciplinary commission to shorten the response period and to list a hearing at the earliest opportunity.”
BBC Sport reported a Southampton performance analyst recorded Middlesbrough training on Thursday, taking pictures of tactics. According to the report, the staff member was caught, deleted the footage and left the area.“We can confirm that we will be fully co-operating with the league throughout this process,” Southampton said in a statement.
“Given the ongoing nature of the matter, the club is unable to comment any further at this time.”
Back in 2019, the EFL fined Leeds 200,000 pounds (AU$376,000) for spying on a Derby training session ahead of a game between the teams.
The first leg of their semi-final takes place at Riverside Stadium on Saturday (12:30 BST), with the return at St Mary’s on Tuesday.