Spygate: Southampton manager Tonda Eckert accepts responsibility for Championship spying scandal | Football news

Southampton manager Tonda Eckert has pleaded guilty to “undercover, deliberate and deplorable” spying that led to the club’s exit from the Championship final, an independent commission has said.

The written reasons for the commission’s decision also state:

• Tonda Eckert admitted that she “directly authorized the observation”
• There has been a “very sad” approach to Southampton’s use of young players
• Young workers were put under pressure to do things they felt were wrong
• The initial six-point lead was reduced to four points following the cut

Southampton’s appeal against the decision to deny them a place in Saturday’s showdown at Wembley and their four points in the Championship was dismissed on Wednesday.

According to the EFL, Southampton admitted “multiple breaches” related to the unauthorized recording of their opponents’ training ahead of games against Oxford and Ipswich, and the play-off semi-final against Middlesbrough.

The FA have also confirmed that they have launched an investigation into Southampton.

Southampton were first reported to the EFL by Middlesbrough when they alleged that a Southampton employee was spying during training on May 7 before their semi-final, in breach of league rules, and the EFL charged them the following day.

Eckert is said to have “authorized” a member of staff to obtain information about the formation of Oxford, while giving his colleague the power to seek the availability of a key Middlesbrough player.

The independent commission described Southampton as having “deliberately sought a competitive advantage” and “seriously breached” the integrity of the play-off.

Among the written reasons for reaching this decision on Wednesday, the independent commission added that the filming by the Saints was part of a deliberate plan.

“We concluded that, on the part of the defendant, there was an established and determined plan from top to bottom to gain a competitive advantage in really important competitions by deliberately going to the training ground of the opposing teams for the purpose of gaining knowledge of tactics and selection,” wrote the independent commission.

“It involved much more than innocent acts and a particularly sadistic approach in its use of junior staff to make secret opinions at the behest of senior officials.”

In a statement issued by Southampton on Wednesday evening, the Saints said they were “disappointed” with the outcome of the appeal and maintained that the sanction was fair.

Southampton fined Leeds £200,000 when they were found guilty of scouting Derby County ahead of the 2019 play-offs.

However, the independent commission says any potential financial penalty is “pointless” and that EFL regulation 127, introduced in June 2019 following Marco Bielsa’s ‘Spygate’, prohibits watching opposition training.

Middlesbrough will face Hull City on Saturday, which will be played at 3.30 pm.