Southampton Boss Eckert Handed Suspended Ban Over Spygate Scandal

Tonda Eckert can stay on as Southampton manager after an FA independent commission gave him a suspended six-week ban over the Spygate scandal.

The ban from all football is suspended until the end of next season. He was also fined £28,000 and reprimanded. The FA had asked for a three-month ban, but the panel gave him credit for "considerable mitigation in this matter, most particularly around the genuine contrition". The FA has not said yet whether it will appeal.

The six weeks would only be served if Eckert is found to be involved in any more spying before the end of next season. He was sanctioned for three breaches of FA Rule E3.1. The panel said a three-month ban would "unquestionably be the equivalent of a further sanction being imposed" on the club, and called that a "clear and compelling reason" to suspend it.

Southampton welcomed the outcome. "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," the club said.

Owner Dragan Solak said the club had "already suffered enough". He added: "We are confident the manager has learned from this matter, and a suspended sentence allows him to continue in his role." He called the FA process a "positive experience" but was sharp about the EFL. "The way they have treated us is not something we will forget," he said.

The row dates back to May, when Saints were thrown out of the Championship play-offs after admitting they spied on training sessions of Oxford United, Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough. 

They also got a four-point deduction this season. An EFL commission found Eckert authorised it and called it "a contrived and determined plan from the top down". 

The 33-year-old said sorry in June, saying he did not know the practice was banned.

The FA panel found he had Oxford watched to see whether they played a back four or back five under a new manager. He did not start the move to get Ipswich's CCTV footage. Before the Middlesbrough semi-final, he sent someone to check if midfielder Hayden Hackney was fit. The panel was "entirely satisfied" he did not know the actions broke the rules or were "morally wrong". It also rejected any idea of "a systemic or organised course of conduct", and called him "a particularly impressive witness".

The Middlesbrough episode happened on Thursday, May 7, two days before the first leg. Southampton intern William Salt is said to have stood near Boro's Rockliffe Park base pointing his phone at training, wearing in-ear headphones. Boro staff think he may have been live-streaming. 

When a staff member approached, reports said he deleted content from his phone, ran into the golf club, changed his clothes in the toilets and left in a hurry. Boro's photographer matched him to a photo on Southampton's website, and the club reported it to the EFL.

Southampton won none of the three games. They lost 2-1 at Oxford, drew 2-2 at home to Ipswich and drew 0-0 at Boro.

Salt now has a permanent role in the club's academy. Chief executive Phil Parsons said: "He's been through a tough time." 

He added: "A lot of people probably underestimated how that could have impacted a young lad so we've got a job to make sure that he's looked after in his early career."

Eckert became permanent boss in December 2025 after taking over as interim manager with the club 21st. They finished fourth. This season they are 13th with four wins from eight games and face Portsmouth this weekend.

In earlier cases, the FA gave Marcelo Bielsa only a formal warning after Leeds spied on Derby in 2019, while the EFL fined Leeds £200,000. At the 2024 Olympics, FIFA banned Canada women's coach Bev Priestman for a year after New Zealand were spied on.