Southampton spying probe: Saints charged by EFL with spying on Middlesbrough

The Saints are accused of breaking two rules:

EFL Regulation 3.4Requiring clubs to act in utmost good faith towards each other; And

EFL Regulation 127This prohibits any club from monitoring or attempting to observe another club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match between the two clubs.

“Under EFL regulations, Southampton normally have 14 days to respond to the allegations,” the statement said.

“However, given the nature of the matter, the EFL will ask the independent disciplinary commission to shorten its response time and hold a hearing at the earliest opportunity.”

The first leg of the semi-final will be played at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday (12:30 BST) with the return leg at St Mary’s on Tuesday.

The anti-espionage rule was introduced seven years ago after Leeds United were fined £200,000 by the EFL for watching their opponents train before matches.

A member of the Leeds squad was found acting suspiciously outside Derby’s training ground ahead of a match between the sides on 10 January 2019.

Manager Marcelo Bielsa revealed that Leeds sent a member of staff to monitor the training of every team they played that season.

The EFL found Leeds had breached rules on treating teams in “good faith”.