Southampton Expelled from Championship Playoff Final After Admitting to Unauthorized Filming

Southampton has been expelled from the second-tier Championship playoff final after admitting to the unauthorized filming of other clubs' practice sessions. The team from England's south coast was removed Tuesday from the match that determines promotion to the Premier League.

The playoff final is described as the world's richest one-off soccer match because a windfall of at least 200 million pounds in future Premier League earnings is on offer for the winning team.

In 2007, the team was caught using video to record the New York Jets' signals during an NFL game. The team was fined $250,000 and docked a first-round draft pick. Twelve years later, the Patriots acknowledged that a video crew filmed the Cincinnati Bengals sideline during a game against the Cleveland Browns.

The team was fined $1.1 million and lost a third-round pick in the 2021 draft. Canada's women's national soccer team flew drones over New Zealand's closed practice sessions ahead of a match at the 2024 Paris Games. The coach was suspended and removed from the team, and two staff members were sent home.

Canada Soccer was fined $228,000 and docked six points at the Olympic tournament. The Houston Astros used a camera in center field and a trash can to steal signs during their 2017 World Series title run. Manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were fired.

No players were punished, and the Astros retained their 2017 championship status. A 2007 spying incident led to the McLaren Formula 1 team receiving a $100 million fine. McLaren staff obtained confidential technical information about Ferrari's car design.

The team was stripped of all points in that year's constructors' championship. Leeds was fined 200,000 pounds for spying on one of Derby's training sessions ahead of a second-tier Championship game. The English Football League said the conduct fell significantly short of the standards expected and must not be repeated.