If a team is found to be guilty of cheating they should be expelled from the competition

[WorldCup2026]

I’m talking about the Southampton FC spy being sent to a rival team 2 days before a knock out match.

they probably would have won the game without these tactics as their rivals weren’t good enough.

I feel they should not play in the final as it will ge a deterrent against cheating in the future, it’s sets ab example at all levels of football.

I feel for fans like you who in good faith have bought tickets and made arrangements. They shouldn’t have allowed tickets to be sold knowing that it was going to a panel decision, and I believe the correct decision was made.

Whoever made the decision to cheat has let you all down

Umm....

Not really. I just shared an opinion, and I’m now very happy to be wrong.

Yep! Very happy to have been wrong in this scenario! 😁

They have been kicked out of the play-offs.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c392pmk9lx9t

Agreed. I don’t think they’ll agree to any train ticket or accommodation reimbursement; just the match ticket. (And in their defence, they won’t know what’s a genuine claim and what’s not).

But hey, appeal is today. Amazing that the whole thing could still be changed!

What about Hull? They'll have been training to play Southampton and now they have three days to train against another team.
I completely agree with the FAs decision, however Hull are the only team in the playoffs that won their game.
I dorn see how the match isn't going to be moved to another day now when Southampton sold 37,000 tickets and Boro fans now have no time to buy their tickets and sort travel and accommodation.

I think the right decision was made and I can’t see it being overturned on appeal.

My sympathies lie with the Southampton fans though - it will be heartbreaking for them to have such a huge event taken away from them. I don’t think the Team were considering the impact their actions might have on their fans when they broke the rules and started spying on the rivals.

I don’t know how the practicalities of it all will work out with the match being so close and having to refund the Southampton fans whilst simultaneously selling tickets to the Middlesborough fans - it sounds like a logistical nightmare.

We are fans of a Championship League team in this house and we were happy for Middlesbrough last night once the decision was made, but like I said, genuinely sympathetic towards the Southampton fans because it’s really crap for them. I hope the football team and management are sincerely and publicly apologetic to their fans in some way in the next few days.

Yes, I saw yesterdays news. Didn’t expect it but it was the correct decision. Sad for the majority of the Southampton fans who have been let down

but some of the fans behaved horribly online after the second leg

Can’t say I’m too sympathetic for the fans either. The number who took binoculars and ghillie suits to the Boro game. As for Harwood-Bellis, think he’s probably regretting his celebration

Totally agree that the fans who did that were being dickish. Not in the spirit of the game at all. The vast majority are probably just normal and nice people who are horrified by this, though, surely.

I agree with @ScaredButUnavoidable that they've been let down horrendously. It will take a long time to build that trust and relationship back up.

Plus, sponsors aren’t going to be rushing to renew any contracts are they? Who would want to be associated with this!

The game has to be played by 31st May, and Wembley isn't available the following Saturday due to the Rugby League final. If they postpone the game, it will have to be played elsewhere.

I'm a sports fan. Different team, different sport, but if my club did this to the fans (especially the kids) I'm not sure I could forgive them. It's treating them with so little respect, they owe a massive apology to their own fans (as well as the other teams involved and the league).

Also, even the fans of Hull aren't being spared the disruption. I just saw this on the BBC - basically saying that if it's Boro, then the match will kick-off one hour earlier. How many Hull fans will have made plans and booked trains that now mean they might not be able to do that?

They'd expect to be at Wembley more than an hour before, so it'd be doable, if rushed. I wonder why they've suggested this, they never normally factor in return trains for Northern teams...

The club deserves to be kicked out of the play offs and have points deducted next season. The spying wasn’t a one off, it happened several times.

I do feel sorry for the fans though, they’re the ones that suffer most.

Yes, it's possible to think the right decision was made, and that the appeal should fail, but still to feel sorry for their fans who didn't create this situation.

Yes, I think it's the multiple incidences of spying that have made the punishment so strong. It's systemic, rather than a one-off error of judgement.

I saw a suggestion elsewhere that all season ticket fans at Soton should have them renewed next season for free.

That's not a bad idea, actually. It has some financial element, and also encourages fans to come back and cheer on the team, which would help with the issue of losing bums on seats.

I quite like that idea. But I don't think the EFLcould enforce it, could they?

Agree with being kicked out of the play offs, not sure the four point deduction is reasonable- it should be a larger amount perhaps suspended, or some restriction such as a transfer ban for a period.

No, it would have to be a Soton decision / choice.

The appeal hearing is happening right now. I’d love to be a fly on the wall!

Their appeal has been dismissed. Southampton are out

Now also complaining the punishement is too harsh, so they think people should be free to do whatever they want rules or not then carry on like children ''its not fair someone else did something why do we get punished more'' footballers are role models do wrong and get punished simple