Southampton's Championship playoff final fate hangs in balance as 'Spygate' hearing begins

May 19 : Southampton will discover on Tuesday whether their Premier League promotion hopes could be dashed by a disciplinary hearing into allegations they spied on Championship playoff semi-final opponents Middlesbrough during a training session.

Dubbed 'Spygate', the case will be examined by an independent commission that will look into claims that an alleged Southampton analyst was caught secretly filming Middlesbrough's training session from behind a tree ahead of their playoff.

Southampton were charged by the EFL earlier this month, with club CEO Phil Parsons saying they were fully cooperating while also undertaking an internal review.

The Championship playoff final is dubbed the "richest game in football" because of the huge financial rewards on offer for promotion to England's top flight.

The south-coast club beat Middlesbrough 2-1 on aggregate to reach the final against Hull City on May 23 at Wembley Stadium.

But Southampton could find themselves denied the chance to play if found guilty of breaching English Football League (EFL) regulations that prohibit clubs from observing another club's training session within 72 hours of a match between the two sides.

According to BBC and Sky Sports reports, the alleged spy was caught recording a Middlesbrough training session from behind a tree ahead of the first leg and reportedly ran into a nearby golf club when confronted by a member of Boro staff.

Reuters has contacted Southampton for comment on the allegations.

MIDDLESBROUGH WANT SOUTHAMPTON KICKED OUT

Middlesbrough had expressed frustration after being blocked from joining the disciplinary proceedings, saying they held "relevant factual evidence" about the alleged spying incident.

The club has demanded Southampton be kicked out