EFL responds to Hull chief’s appeal amid ongoing issues involving Saints and Boro.

Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic has seen one of his major concerns addressed by the English Football League amid the continuing chaos surrounding the explosive Championship “Spygate” scandal involving Southampton and Middlesbrough F.C..

Jakirovic had openly warned that Hull risked becoming “collateral damage” in the controversy after Southampton were dramatically expelled from the Championship play-offs following a bombshell independent commission ruling on Tuesday evening.

The South Coast club were removed from the competition after admitting to three separate spying offences involving rival Championship teams, including Middlesbrough, their semi-final opponents.

As part of the punishment, Southampton were also handed a four-point deduction for next season.

The decision completely transformed the play-off picture, with Middlesbrough being reinstated into the final despite originally losing 2-1 on aggregate to Southampton in the semi-finals.

The ruling immediately plunged the Championship into uncertainty because Southampton launched an appeal within hours of the decision being announced.

The Saints are understood to be exploring every available legal route in an attempt to overturn the sanctions, particularly given the enormous financial importance of the Championship play-off final.

Promotion to the Premier League is estimated to be worth around £200 million to the winning club, increasing the stakes surrounding the appeal process even further.

Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic with Millwall boss Alex Neil during their Championship play-off semi-final (Image: George Wood/Getty Images).

A hearing involving Southampton’s appeal was scheduled to take place late on Wednesday evening, and the verdict had the potential to reshape the play-off final once again.

The EFL confirmed that if the appeal succeeded and Southampton’s expulsion was overturned, the final itself could be changed yet again.

Ahead of the ruling, the league prepared contingency plans covering both possible outcomes regarding Hull City’s opponents for Saturday’s Wembley showdown.

League officials announced that if the final featured Hull City against Middlesbrough in an all-Yorkshire clash, the kick-off time would be brought forward to 3:30pm.

However, if Southampton won their appeal and regained their place in the final, the match would instead proceed at the originally scheduled time of 4:30pm.

Although uncertainty still surrounded the identity of Hull’s opponents, the EFL effectively responded to Jakirovic’s biggest concern by ensuring the final would remain on Saturday rather than being postponed until a later date.

Hull had been deeply worried about the possibility of the match being rearranged for next week due to the ongoing legal battle involving Southampton.

The Tigers found themselves caught in the middle of a hugely complicated situation despite having done nothing wrong themselves.

Preparations for the Wembley final nevertheless continued as normal, with Hull planning to travel south later on Thursday while awaiting confirmation of their opponents.

Earlier in the week, Jakirovic had spoken openly about the difficulties Hull would face if the fixture was delayed.

The Hull manager stressed that extending the uncertainty beyond Saturday would create major problems for players already physically and mentally exhausted after a long Championship campaign.

Speaking to The Athletic, Jakirovic admitted that Hull City had effectively become innocent victims of circumstances outside their control.

“I can say we, Hull City, are collateral damage,” the Bosnian-born coach explained.

He said the greatest issue for him would be any attempt to postpone the final beyond the scheduled weekend date.

According to Jakirovic, maintaining focus and concentration after such a demanding season would become increasingly difficult if players were forced to wait even longer for clarity.

The Hull manager revealed that preparations for the final had already begun immediately after the club’s semi-final victory against Millwall F.C..

Hull defeated Millwall on Monday to secure their place at Wembley, and Jakirovic explained that planning for the final started almost immediately afterward.

At that stage, Southampton were still expected to be Hull’s opponents because the Saints had won their semi-final tie before the spying scandal exploded publicly.

Jakirovic admitted Hull began preparing tactically for Southampton as early as Tuesday because that was the team they anticipated facing.

However, the dramatic developments surrounding the independent commission ruling suddenly created the possibility of a completely different final against Middlesbrough.

Referring to the uncertainty, Jakirovic acknowledged that Hull would simply have to adapt if the identity of the opponent changed.

“If they change something, then we will prepare for another game,” he said.

The possibility of postponement had created additional sporting concerns for Hull beyond simple disruption to preparation schedules.

Two Hull players, Amir Hadziahmetovic and Ivor Pandur, had already received international call-ups from their respective national teams.

Any delay to the final could therefore have complicated player availability and disrupted Hull’s preparations even further.

There were also fears within Hull that a postponement might indirectly benefit Middlesbrough if Boro remained involved in the final.

Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney has been sidelined since mid-March with a calf injury but is reportedly nearing a return to fitness.

A later date for the final could potentially have provided Hackney with additional recovery time, increasing the likelihood of him featuring in the match.

Hull were therefore understandably anxious to ensure the fixture proceeded as originally planned.

Reports emerging on Tuesday suggested the Tigers were even considering legal action after Southampton’s expulsion from the play-offs.

According to those reports, Hull were prepared to take action if they believed the club was being treated unfairly during the process.

The situation has left the Championship in a state of extraordinary confusion, with uncertainty lingering over who will actually contest the richest game in English football outside the Premier League.

The saga has also attracted reactions from clubs beyond those directly involved in the final itself.

In a separate development, Josh Windass jokingly suggested that the play-offs should be restarted entirely with Wrexham A.F.C. included after Southampton’s expulsion.

Windass, whose Wrexham side finished seventh in the Championship standings, implied that the changing circumstances surrounding the play-offs had created enough chaos to reopen the competition altogether.

While his comments appeared light-hearted, they also reflected growing interest from other Championship clubs monitoring the fallout from the scandal.

Any successful Southampton appeal would likely create even more confusion and potentially spark further legal or sporting disputes.

The scandal itself centres around Southampton’s admission that they illegally observed opposition training sessions on multiple occasions during the season.

Alongside the highly publicised spying incident involving Middlesbrough ahead of the semi-final first leg at the Riverside Stadium, Southampton also admitted observing training sessions involving Oxford United F.C. and Ipswich Town F.C..

The Oxford incident occurred last December, while the Ipswich incident took place in April.

The repeated nature of the offences played a major role in the severity of the sanctions imposed on Southampton by the independent commission.

Questions have increasingly focused on the role of Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert throughout the controversy.

All three spying incidents occurred after Eckert’s appointment as Southampton manager in early December.

The German coach previously worked at Barnsley F.C. before taking charge at Southampton.

Although no direct accusations have yet been publicly made regarding Eckert’s personal involvement, the timing of the incidents has inevitably led to speculation and scrutiny surrounding the club’s management structure.

The scandal has quickly become one of the most remarkable controversies in Championship history.

For Hull City, however, the primary concern remains preparing for a Wembley final while navigating unprecedented uncertainty surrounding the identity of their opponents and the wider legal battle unfolding around them.

Jakirovic’s plea to avoid postponing the final appears to have been accepted by the EFL, at least for now.

But until the appeal verdict is officially delivered, the possibility of yet another dramatic twist in the Championship “Spygate” saga cannot be ruled out.

With legal arguments continuing, tensions rising and millions of pounds at stake, English football remains gripped by one of the most chaotic and controversial promotion races the Championship has ever witnessed.