MIDDLESBROUGH have been fined £10,000 and warned about their future conduct after the club’s players and officials were found guilty of not behaving in an orderly fashion, the FA has announced.

Boro had denied a breach of FA Rule E20, but an independent regulatory commission found the charge proven.

The charge arose from scenes at the end of this month’s controversial Championship match against Swansea on March 6 when Andre Ayew scored an added-time penalty winner after referee Gavin Ward had initially awarded a corner.

Earlier in the game, Ward had ruled out a goal from Marc Bola despite replays subsequently showing that Yannick Bolasie had won the ball when he was penalised for a foul in the build-up to the full-back’s strike.

Neil Warnock and some of his players confronted the match official on the pitch after the final whistle, with the Middlesbrough manager clearly incensed at the referee’s decision making. Last week, Warnock was fined £7,000 for his post-match comments about the refereeing of the game.

Meanwhile, the EFL has secured a £117.5m financial package from MetLife Investment Management to help Championship clubs survive the coronavirus pandemic.

The loan – provided by the institutional asset management business of MetLife Inc. – matches the figure requested by the 24 second-tier clubs in order to meet PAYE liabilities as they continue to battle against a severe loss of revenue due to Covid-19.

The Premier League has pledged £15m that will go towards set-up costs and interest, following on from its £50m grant for League One and League Two clubs in December.

The EFL chose MetLife Investment Management after a bidding process with other financial providers and UK banks, while loan options were also discussed with the Government.

EFL chairman Rick Parry said: “I’d like to thank MetLife Investment Management for their positive, proactive approach."