Southampton charged by EFL after Middlesbrough complaint of 'unauthorised filming' at training ground

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Middlesbrough are scheduled to host Southampton at the Riverside Stadium in the first leg of their Championship promotion play-off semi-final on Saturday, before travelling south for the return leg on Tuesday. Middlesbrough lodged a complaint after the club alleged they spotted a Southampton official secretly filming their training session at Rockliffe Park ahead of Saturday’s game. An EFL statement on Friday said the matter would be referred to an Independent Disciplinary Commission after the south-coast club were charged with allegedly breaching two of its regulations. The two charges are related to the requirement for “clubs to act towards each other with the utmost good faith” and the regulation which “prohibits any club from observing, or attempting to observe, another club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match between the two clubs”. The EFL added: “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.” The Athletic have approached Southampton for comment. The clubs will contest a two-legged play-off semi-final, with the winners to meet the victors of Hull City’s clash with Millwall on May 23 at Wembley Stadium to contest a place in next season’s Premier League, and a potential windfall of around £200million ($271m). This incident comes after Middlesbrough say they discovered a man, believed to be a member of Southampton’s backroom staff, at their training ground on Thursday morning. A man, believed to be a member of Southampton’s backroom staff, was discovered at Middlesbrough’s training ground on Thursday morning. The person was confronted by a member of Middlesbrough’s personnel and ran off. Middlesbrough are understood to have CCTV footage of the incident, according to people familiar with what happened, speaking on condition of anonymity. Allegedly, the person was filming using a phone with earphones connected. Confronted by a Middlesbrough employee, the person gave a brief answer before moving away swiftly towards the hotel, then returned to the golf course clubhouse to get changed. He then made for the car park and drove off. These allegations are similar to the ones made towards Leeds United in 2019. The then-Championship club were fined £200,000 by the EFL for watching opponents train before matches. This came after a member of Leeds’ staff was found acting suspiciously outside Derby’s training ground before a fixture between the two sides a month before. Marcelo Bielsa, the Leeds United manager, confessed to telling someone to spy on Derby County’s training session. Derby went on to beat Leeds over two legs in the play-offs at the end of that season. Following this incident, the EFL announced a new rule that made “clear clubs will be expressly prohibited from viewing opposition training in the 72 hours immediately prior to a fixture, unless invited to do so.” Middlesbrough finished fifth in the Championship with Southampton, relegated from the Premier League last season, finished fourth in this season’s Championship and reached the FA Cup semi-final, losing 2-1 to Manchester City. Middlesbrough finished fifth in this season’s second-tier standings. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms