Southampton could be thrown out of play-offs if found guilty of alleged spying

It is possible that Southampton could be thrown out of the Championship play-offs and denied the chance of promotion to the Premier League if an independent commission upholds the charge that they spied on a Middlesbrough training session in the build-up to their play-off semi-final.

But it is also possible that the commission decides Southampton are guilty of no offence, and that the charge is dismissed. There is a whole range of possible punishments in between those two extremes.