Sportsupdated 1h ago3 min read
Tonda Eckert Keeps Southampton Job After Six-Week Suspended Ban Over Spygate
Six-week ban from all football, suspended until end of next season, plus £28,000 fine. Suspension activates if further breaches occur before end of next season; he remains Southampton boss.
Eckert ban suspended
Tonda Eckert was allowed to continue as Southampton manager after an FA independent regulatory commission handed him a six-week ban from all football that was suspended until the end of next season. The commission also imposed a £28,000 fine and a reprimand, and it suspended the sanction so it would only be triggered if Eckert was found to be involved in any other spying between now and the end of next season. Southampton welcomed the decision, saying, "We hope this now brings a conclusion to a regrettable period of our history, and measures have been put in place to ensure that such errors in judgement never happen again at our club," while owner Dragan Solak said the club had "already suffered enough."
The FA had proposed a three-month ban, but the commission gave credit to Eckert for what it called "considerable mitigation in this matter, most particularly around the genuine contrition". Southampton were expelled from the Championship play-offs in May after admitting spying on training sessions involving Oxford United, Ipswich Town, and Middlesbrough before the play-off semi-final, and they were also handed a four-point deduction for this season.
What the FA found
The FA found Eckert guilty of three breaches of FA Rule E3.1 in relation to misconduct from Dec. 2025 to May, and the Football Association said the incidents involved spying on Oxford United, Ipswich Town, and Middlesbrough.
Eckert was found to have ordered a member of Southampton staff to spy on Oxford United training before a game last December, and he also received CCTV footage of an Ipswich Town session in April.
The FA’s case centered most heavily on a Middlesbrough training observation in May to see whether midfielder Hayden Hackney was participating while dealing with an injury, and CBS Sports said the incident led Boro to report Southampton to the EFL.
The FA also acknowledged Eckert was not found to have knowingly cheated, pressured junior staff, or created a systemic spying program, and the commission concluded it had "no hesitation in rejecting any suggestion of a systemic or organised course of conduct".
Southampton said the punishment "brings a conclusion to a regrettable period of our history," and the club added that "measures have been put in place to ensure that such errors in judgement never happen again at our club."
Next match and fallout
Southampton were set to face local rivals Portsmouth this weekend after Eckert kept his job, and CBS Sports said the next game was against Portsmouth (7 a.m. ET, Paramount+ and CBS Sports Golazo Network).
The FA’s suspended sanction would come into effect if Eckert was found to have committed a breach of Rules or Regulations by requesting, authorising, taking, or using information from any observation of the training of another club, "in whatever guise that observation may take."
The Guardian said the independent commission disagreed with many of the findings of the EFL panels and described Eckert as "particularly impressive witness" who showed "genuine contrition."
Dragan Solak criticized the EFL process while backing Eckert, and he said, "The same cannot be said for the EFL process, and the way they have subsequently treated us is not something we will forget."
The Guardian also noted that the EFL commission had condemned Eckert’s "deplorable" behaviour in pressuring junior members of staff to spy on opponents’ training sessions, while the FA hearing concluded there was no evidence of Eckert pressurising staff.