Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg accused Southampton of cheating and called for the club to be severely punished after it was allegedly caught spying on its opponents in the Championship play-offs.
The Saints have been accused of breaching the rules of the English football league after Middlesbrough accused them of spying on a training session this week.
The allegations of unauthorized filming by someone linked to Southampton came two days before Saturday’s 0-0 draw between the club in the first leg of the Playoffs semi-final at the Riverside Stadium.
Hellberg was still coming to terms with the astonishing incident after watching his side squander a series of chances to take revenge on Southampton in a tense encounter.
«It’s a strange situation. I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears when I heard it, I couldn’t believe it when someone told me for the second or third time,» he said.
«But if someone decides to cheat, that’s obvious and it will be interesting to see what happens with that.»
Hellberg said it was a “big advantage” for Southampton to be able to watch the training sessions, pointing to the fact that it played the first half with a formation it had never used before.
The Middlesbrough manager slammed Southampton’s lack of respect for the rules after an incident that bore striking similarities to a situation with Leeds in 2019.
Marcelo Bielsa, then Leeds manager, paid a fine for sending someone to watch Derby County training. The Football League introduced a new rule banning teams from watching training sessions within 72 hours of a match.
Hellberg claimed that a fine would not be enough of a punishment or deterrent.
«Who gets the fine? Do they have to pay the EFL? OK, so they can see everything we do. I don’t know,» he said. «We’ll see what happens. I just think it’s strange that they would do that and try to cheat in these types of matches to be honest. To be honest, I think a lot of clubs would pay that amount of money to try and get the advantage of seeing the two sessions before a match of this magnitude. I think a lot of clubs would pay that. But it’s not legal so they wouldn’t do it.»
Asked whether The Saints should be kicked out of the Playoffs, with Tuesday’s second leg at St Mary’s looming, Hellberg added: «That’s not my decision. I’m just telling you what it is. It’s not just us. I think every team in the Championship should be angry.»
Southampton boss Tonda Eckert left the post-match press conference after being peppered with questions about the scandal.
«I think the club made a statement last night. I think that’s all there is to say at the moment,» he said.
“I think we can talk about this and I know these questions come up, but I don’t think we should get distracted by the importance of those two big games.”
Published on May 9, 2026
