Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert was handed a six-week ban and a fine of roughly $37,000 on Wednesday after being found guilty of spying on opponents last season, though the ban is suspended until the end of the 2027-28 season and will only kick in if he is in violation of the rules again during that period. The FA found Eckert guilty of three breaches of rule E3.1 in relation to misconduct from Dec. 2025 to May of this year, specifically pointing out three incidents of spying. Eckert was found to have ordered a member of Southampton's staff to spy on Oxford United training before a game last December, as well as receiving CCTV footage of an Ipswich Town session in April.
Most notably, he was found to have asked a member of staff to spy on Middlesbrough's training session in May to see if midfielder Hayden Hackney, who has since moved to Everton, was participating or not while dealing with an injury. The incident at Middlesbrough's Rockliffe Park, which took place in the midst of the Championship's promotion playoffs, ultimately led Boro to report Southampton to the EFL and resulted in several sanctions for the Saints. They were kicked out of the Championship promotion playoff final, Boro instead taking their place at Wembley Stadium in May before losing to Hull City.
The Saints also began this season with a four-point deduction and currently sit in 13th place with 10 points after eight games; without the deduction, they would be inside the top eight. Eckert was not found by the FA to have knowingly cheated, pressured junior staff or created a systemic spying program. The FA also acknowledged his cooperation throughout the investigation, admitting to the charges.
He also issued a public apology in June and asked for forgiveness in an interview with the BBC last month. "We hope this now brings a conclusion to a regrettable period of our history," Southampton said in a statement, "and measures have been put in place to ensure that such errors in judgement never happen again at our club." Southampton resume play on Sunday against Portsmouth (7 a.m. ET, Paramount+ and CBS Sports Golazo Network), who are two points behind the Saints in 19th place.
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