The $377 million cost of spying in the bushes as Southampton's appeal against expulsion is dismissed

Southampton's appeal against their expulsion from the Championship playoff final because of spying offences was dismissed on Thursday (AEST).

An arbitration panel upheld the English Football League's decision to remove Southampton from Sunday's (AEST) final, meaning Middlesbrough will take their place and play Hull at Wembley Stadium for the chance to win promotion to the Premier League

The decision is final.

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Southampton were expelled on Wednesday (AEST) after admitting to repeatedly spying on opponents.

The club was charged earlier this month for the unauthorised filming of Middlesbrough's practice sessions ahead of their semi-final.

They went on to win the two-legged tie to go within one game of promotion to the top flight.

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The south coast club subsequently admitted further breaches this season concerning games against Oxford United and Ipswich.

They were also deducted four points for next season.

In their appeal, Southampton described the punishment as "manifestly disproportionate" to any previous sanction in English football history.

In a long club statement, Southampton chief executive Phil Parsons had accepted "what happened was wrong" and that the club deserved to be sanctioned.

"What we cannot accept is a sanction which bears no proportion to the offence," Parsons said.

Two days before the semi-final, a Southampton analyst was busted literally hiding in bushes at Middlesbrough's headquarters.

Former Saints star Matt Le Tissier - who has been working with the club in an advisory capacity - was stunned.

"It feels like you've been put on trial for murder when all you've done is stolen a Mars bar from the corner shop," he told The Sun.

The playoff final is labelled the world's richest one-off football match because a windfall of at least $377 million in future earnings is on offer for the winning team.

Promotion to the top flight of English football - the world's wealthiest and most-watched league - brings with it access to its multibillion dollar global broadcast deals as well as sold out stadiums for games against the biggest teams in the world like Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal.

Southampton were relegated from the Premier League after finishing bottom of the standings last season and were aiming to make an immediate return.

The verdict means that Socceroos star Riley McGree will get his chance to potentially become the 53rd Australian since 1994 to play in the Premier League.

McGree has 35 Socceroos caps, and has made 118 appearances for Middlesbrough since landing at the club in 2022. The stunning decision comes after Leeds United were previously punished for spying.

In 2019, the EFL fined Leeds $375,000 for spying on one of Derby County’s training sessions.

Marcelo Bielsa, who was manager of Leeds at the time, accepted responsibility for having a club employee spy on Derby’s practice.

In a detailed, hour-long news conference, Bielsa later admitted to having watched at least one of each of his opponents' training sessions.

In handing out that fine, the EFL said Leeds’ conduct "fell significantly short of the standards expected by the EFL and must not be repeated."

The Southampton incident has echoes of Canada's Olympic women's football team, which was penalised for flying drones over New Zealand's closed practice sessions ahead of the teams' match at Paris 2024.

- with Sam Worthington