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Tonda Eckert, the Southampton manager embroiled in the spygate scandal which saw the club expelled from the Championship play-offs, has been fined £28,000 and handed a suspended six-week ban by the Football Association, allowing him to continue in his role.
Saints were removed from last season’s play-offs by an independent English Football League (EFL) panel after admitting to spying on three opponents’ training sessions. The penalty denied them a chance at promotion to the Premier League worth at least £200m. The same panel also handed them a four-point deduction for the current campaign.
The club were braced for further disciplinary measures after Eckert was charged with misconduct by the FA in July over the same incidents. But Eckert’s suspended ban means he will not need to step away from his position as manager.
Southampton said in a statement: “Southampton Football Club welcomes the outcome of the FA hearing into the events at the end of last season. 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.
“We want to take this opportunity to thank the supporters for their unconditional backing throughout this process. Our fan base is unmatched, and we are excited to move forward together towards a bright future.”
Eckert admitted staff were sent to monitor sessions at Oxford and Ipswich during the regular season, and Middlesbrough before their play-off semi-final in May, where a Southampton intern was confronted by Middlesbrough staff, exposing the scandal. The German stated he was unaware that spying breached EFL rules.
The EFL panel found younger staff felt pressured to carry out the activity, describing it as “a contrived and determined plan from top down to gain a competitive advantage”.
more to follow…
