Eckert asks for 'forgiveness' and reveals four-hour FA talks as Spygate verdict due

Tonda Eckert is hopeful that his public apology and four-hour meeting with the FA will see him escape serious punishment as the Southampton Spygate saga finally edges closer to a conclusion.

Saints boss Eckert is awaiting his fate after taking responsibility for the spying scandal which cost the club a shot at the Premier League last season. Southampton were thrown out of the play-off final after it became clear their spying on Middlesbrough training was not a one-off.

Eckert was charged with misconduct by the FA in July for authorising spying on three clubs. As well as being thrown out of the play-offs, Saints started the 2026/27 season on -4 points.

The club are now nervously awaiting the result of the FA investigation, with a ban for Eckert a very real possibility. Saints are 13th in the Championship, but would be fourth without the points deduction. A lengthy ban for their 33-year-old head coach could derail another campaign.

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An FA hearing is taking place this week when Eckert's punishment will be decided. "I've had the chance to sit down and just talk the FA through everything that happened," Eckert told BBC Sport. "And now it's up to them to make a decision. I don't really have any emotions towards that.

"We sat for almost four hours, so it's been quite a long conversation."

Eckert came clean in a public apology back in June after the EFL said he was behind a "contrived and determined plan" to spy on Oxford United, Ipswich and Middlesbrough before matches. The German said he was unaware of the rules he had breached and insisted Saints hadn't gained much of an advantage.

Having missed out on a chance to play Hull at Wembley in May and been handicapped for this season, the club already feels hard done by. "It's been a big, big punishment. Absolutely unheard of in the history of sports," Eckert added.

"And it's tough for me to say that because it concerns me. I'm judging on myself, not an outside situation. But I've asked for forgiveness for what I've done. I've apologised publicly.

"I think the punishment has been very hard on the club for the last season. And to go into a new season on minus four. And the rest is not for me to decide."

Southampton chief executive Phil Parsons stuck by Eckert over the summer and insists he hasn't sounded out other managers in case the FA slap their boss with a hefty ban. He believes the club have already been punished enough.

"We don't know what the FA will actually hand out," Parsons said. "It could be a long ban. It could be a short ban. It could be a suspended sentence.

"What we hope as a club is they actually recognise where we are at the moment, and what we've already been through, because I think it has to be taken into account. I really feel like we've taken enough. We've been hurt. I think it's one of the largest sanctions ever when it comes to football, or even sporting, history."