The exact reasons why Southampton have been kicked out of Championship play-off final | OneFootball

The drama from 'Spygate 2.0' has taken the most seismic of twists ahead of Saturday's planned final

For the past week or so, nothing has dominated the footballing news landscape as much as 'Spygate 2.0' involving Southampton, Middlesbrough and the Championship play-off semi-finals.

Both sides ended their regular second tier season in differing veins of form, with Saints seemingly coming from nowhere to make the top six amid a run of just one defeat since mid-January in all competitions, whilst Boro had spent more days in the automatic promotion places than eventual champions, Coventry City, before a poor end to the campaign saw them slide down to fifth on goal difference.

As such, a mouth-watering two-legged semi-final tie was in wait, although fuel was certainly added to the fire just days before the first of those at the Riverside Stadium on May 9th, after the Teesside outfit reported claims that a Saints analyst was spotted filming and photographing training sessions of Kim Hellberg's side without authorisation at Rockliffe Park.

Ahead of a tense goalless affair at the Riverside, which many believed the Swede's side should have won, Hellberg and Eckert exchanged a 'frosty' handshake between themselves, before the latter walked out of press conferences after both encounters after facing several questions on the matter.

The second leg saw Saints appear to book a second Wembley visit in less than a month after coming from behind after extra-time, and they were set to face off against Hull City in North London after the Tigers defeated Millwall 2-0 at The Den 24 hours beforehand.

However, the 'planned' 4:30PM kick-off this coming Saturday was plunged into doubt due to a hearing on 'spygate' through an independent disciplinary commission, of which the result has emerged, and Southampton have since been expelled from the post-season lottery, with Boro now reinstated for the final against the Tigers, although a kick-off time is yet to be fully confirmed.

Why Southampton have been expelled from the Championship play-off final versus Hull City

Indeed, there were several murmerings that the end outcome of the independent disciplinary commission may not have surfaced until Wednesday, May 20th, before the shock news emerged shortly before 7PM on Tuesday that Saints had been expelled from the play-off final.

The critical reason for said expulsion is that, within an EFL statement, it reads: "the Club (Southampton) admitted to multiple breaches of EFL Regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other Clubs’ training."

Saints were first charged on May 8th ahead of the first semi-final with Middlesbrough, and were charged further nine days later, whilst also admitting to the unauthorised filming of training sessions involving Oxford United and Ipswich Town within 72 hours of the scheduled kick-off times ahead of encounters on Boxing Day and April 29th respectively, with Eckert's side winning neither of those clashes.

It has been widely reported that the South Coast outfit have lodged an appeal to the initial outcome of the independent disciplinary commission, and that the EFL are hoping a resolution to said appeal will come to light on Wednesday, May 20th.

A further announcement is due to come after further conversations with Southampton, Hull and Middlesbrough, and that the outcome of the appeal could still result in a date change from Saturday, May 23rd in terms of the play-off final's scheduling.

Middlesbrough have also released a club statement reaffirming their stance, as well as confirming that ticketing information will be available in due course.

'Spygate' hearing outcome was never going to please everybody ahead of Championship play-off final

The ramifications of the commission's initial decision were never going to satisfy all associated with the three clubs, especially after both Hull and Southampton had sold several thousands of tickets, even though there were warnings over the terms and conditions of those ahead of release.

Tigers boss, Sergej Jakirovic, recently believed that his team were "collateral damage" amid the saga, while owner, Acun llicali, warned that a decision to reschedule the fixture in its entirety would lead to a great logistical "mess."

Hellberg, of course, was visibly upset that an initial place in the final was taken away from his players on the pitch amid the off-field drama, whilst it was revealed that they were to return to training earlier in the week should they be reinstated.

However, one man who will not be involved in the final is Tommy Conway, after he suffered an ankle injury at St Mary's last Tuesday.