Southampton head coach suspended for spying

Brief retelling from RIA II

Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert was handed a six-week suspended ban and fined £28,000 for his role in spying on opponents' training sessions.

Eckert pleaded guilty to three counts of spying on rivals between December 2025 and May 2026.

MOSCOW, October 7 - RIA Novosti. The Football Association of England (FA) has suspended Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert for six weeks and fined him £28,000 (€33,000) for his role in spying on opponents' training sessions.

In July, the FA charged Eckert with three counts of spying on rivals between December 2025 and May 2026. The specialist himself admitted his guilt in all three episodes.

"Tonda Eckert subsequently admitted his guilt and the independent regulatory commission imposed a six-week probationary suspension from all football-related activities until the end of the 2027/28 season, as well as a fine of £28,000 and a reprimand following a hearing," the FA said in a statement to Sky Sports.

In May, Middlesbrough, which lost to Southampton (0:0, 1:2) on aggregate in the semi-finals of the play-offs for access to the English Premier League (EPL), sent a complaint to the English Football League (EFL) with accusations of espionage and filming of the training process, after which the organization began an investigation into the incident. Southampton were excluded from the playoffs and deprived of 4 points in the Championship standings for the 2026/27 season. The Saints' appeal was later rejected.