Hull City will meet Middlesbrough in Saturday's Championship play-off final at Wembley after an independent panel dismissed Southampton's appeal against their expulsion from the fixture. Kick-off is at 3.30pm.

Southampton had challenged the ruling that removed them from the showpiece occasion, describing the original decision as manifestly disproportionate to the offence. However, Wednesday night's appeal hearing upheld the expulsion, leaving the club with no further right of challenge.

How the spygate scandal unfolded

The crisis began on 7 May, when Middlesbrough lodged a formal complaint with the EFL alleging that a Southampton backroom staff member had spied on their training session — three days before the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final.

When the first leg ended in a 0-0 draw at the Riverside Stadium, Boro manager Kim Hellberg publicly accused Southampton of cheating. Southampton were formally charged with breaching EFL regulations on 12 May and requested additional time to carry out an internal review.

That same evening, the semi-final second leg took place at St Mary's. Shea Charles netted an extra-time winner to hand Southampton a 2-1 victory on the night and a place in the final on aggregate. Hellberg labelled the alleged spying disgraceful, while Southampton manager Tonda Eckert walked out of his post-match press conference when asked whether he was a cheat.

Photographs purportedly showing the Southampton analyst close to Middlesbrough's training ground were released publicly on 13 May. The following day, the EFL confirmed an independent hearing would take place no later than 19 May, warning that disciplinary proceedings may yet result in changes to the fixture.

On 15 May, Middlesbrough issued a statement explicitly calling for Southampton's expulsion, arguing that the only appropriate sporting sanction was to bar the club from the final entirely.

Multiple breaches and a points deduction

The EFL revealed that Southampton admitted to multiple breaches of regulations — not limited to the Middlesbrough incident. The club also faced charges relating to the unauthorised filming of opponents' training sessions ahead of fixtures against Oxford and Ipswich.

Alongside their expulsion from the final, Southampton received a four-point deduction to be applied ahead of next season. Their appeal against both sanctions was dismissed on Wednesday evening with no further avenue of challenge available.

Hull City and Middlesbrough will now contest the play-off final on Saturday, with the winner securing promotion to the Premier League.