Southampton boss Eckert discovers his fate as FA hand out Spygate punishment

Tonda Eckert has escaped serious punishment for his role in the Southampton Spygate scandal. The FA has handed the Saints boss a six-week ban from all football, but crucially it is suspended it until the end of next season.

He has also been slapped with a £28,000 fine, but will no doubt be relieved that he can continue his role in trying to get Southampton promoted from the Championship. The FA Commission noted that Eckert had been an "exceptionally impressive witness" after giving evidence to them directly and that he had shown "a remarkable degree of introspection and reflection" on his wrongdoing.

The Southampton manager admitted authorising club staff to spy on Oxford United, Ipswich and Middlesbrough training sessions last season. Saints were subsequently thrown out of the Championship play-off final and docked four points for the 2026/27 season by the EFL, who decided to come down hard on the club.

Eckert was then charged with misconduct by the FA in July and the 33-year-old has finally discovered the outcome of that process following a hearing. His six-week ban will only come into effect if he is found to be “requesting, authorising, taking or using information" from a rival team's training session before the end of the 2027/28 season.

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The club 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.”

Saints owner Dragan Solak used the FA's verdict as a chance to criticise the EFL, adding: “I’m pleased that the independent panel has come to a decision and that we have an outcome. We have already suffered enough, and we appreciate the panel’s recognition of that.

“We are confident the manager has learned from this matter, and a suspended sentence allows him to continue in his role. I firmly believe that Tonda is one of Europe’s most exciting young coaches, and with this distraction removed, I am confident he can lead the team to a successful season. I’d like to thank our fans for standing by us and showing the team so much support during a time when we have needed them more than ever.

“The FA process has been a positive experience. Tonda has been given the opportunity to be open and honest with the panel, and the panel has been able to see that he is simply a good person who made poor decisions.

"The same cannot be said for the EFL process, and the way they have subsequently treated us is not something we will forget. However, now is the time to look forward to what I believe will be a great future for our club.”

"I've asked for forgiveness for what I've done. I've apologised publicly," Eckert told BBC Sport recently, revealing he had a four-hour meeting with FA officials as part of their decision-making.

"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."

Having decided to stick by Eckert - who has been in charge since November 2025 - in the wake of the scandal, Southampton sit 13th in the Championship table. They would be fourth without the four-point penalty imposed on them by the EFL.

Speaking before the FA announcement, Southampton chief executive Phil Parsons made his case that the club had already been punished enough.