Southampton filed an appeal and hopes to return to the Championship final.

2026-05-20 09:30 © AP

On Tuesday, an unprecedented decision was made in England's second division "Championship".

On Saturday, the team "Southampton" was disqualified from the final match for promotion to the "Premier" league due to a spying scandal.

This decision was made after the "Saints" admitted to spying on their opponents several times before their mutual meetings.

"Southampton" admitted to spying before matches against "Oxford United", "Ipswich Town", and "Middlesbrough", whose training session a representative of the "Saints" secretly observed before the playoff semifinals.

In the playoff semifinals, "Southampton" defeated "Middlesbrough", who now received a place in the final for promotion to the "Premier" league.

However, "Southampton" is not willing to give up easily, and the club's lawyers prepared documents overnight for an appeal that should be heard on Wednesday.

It is reported that the club believes the penalty imposed is too harsh and is appealing based on a similar incident that occurred in 2019, for which "Leeds United" only received a monetary fine.

BBC journalist Simon Stone adds that the "Saints" representatives are confident that the decision will be overturned and they will return to the final. All parties wish to resolve the situation today so that the final can take place this upcoming weekend, as planned.