{"id":642950,"date":"2026-05-14T16:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/642950\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T16:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:20:08","slug":"spygate-championship-play-off-final-may-be-delayed-by-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/642950\/","title":{"rendered":"Spygate: Championship play-off final may be delayed by hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Should the match need to be rescheduled due to the outcome of the hearing and any subsequent appeal process, the EFL says it has a “number of contingency plans” available.<\/p>\n

The Championship fixture is the first of three play-off finals held across three days at Wembley, with the League One and Two versions due to be held on the Sunday and Monday, respectively. <\/p>\n

The stadium is booked out the following weekend, when the Rugby League Challenge Cup final will be played on 30 May and the Women’s FA Cup final on 31 May. <\/p>\n

A major music event takes place at the stadium on the following weekend on Saturday 6 June.<\/p>\n

The hearing, conducted by a three-person panel, will be managed by Sport Resolutions, an independent mediation company.<\/p>\n

The EFL has asked for an expedited hearing to accommodate next Saturday’s final while Southampton have argued they need time for an internal review.<\/a><\/p>\n

All parties categorised by the commission as holding an interest in the case – which could include Middlesbrough – will have a right of appeal, but any ruling from an appeal is considered final as EFL rules do not permit cases to be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.<\/p>\n

There is currently no framework in place regarding a suitable sanction should Southampton be found guilty. Possible options include a fine, a points deduction or throwing Southampton out of the play-offs.<\/p>\n

Before the EFL’s statement, Hull City’s sporting director Jared Dublin expressed sympathy for the fans over the uncertainty but said the club are continuing their preparations as normal. <\/p>\n

“We are 100% focused on the final at Wembley and preparing to face Southampton until we are told otherwise,” he told BBC Radio Humberside. “We don’t want any distractions. <\/p>\n

“If I were to put myself in the supporters’ shoes, I would be equally edgy.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Should the match need to be rescheduled due to the outcome of the hearing and any subsequent appeal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":642951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-642950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}