Southampton manager Tonda Eckert has avoided a ban from the Football Association (FA) for his role in "Spygate" after he was handed a six-week suspended sentence and a £28,000 fine.
Eckert's hearing was on Sept. 24 and it took nearly two weeks for the verdict, but the news comes as some relief to the Championship side who have backed Eckert throughout the process.
Eckert was charged by the Football Association with misconduct in July after Southampton admitted to spying on three teams during the 2025-26 Championship season.
As a result, the club were thrown out of the playoffs and hit with a four-point deduction ahead of this season with the English Football League (EFL) saying Southampton had been guilty of a "contrived and determined plan."
Southampton have welcomed the FA's decision.
"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," a statement from Southampton read.
But while club is pleased with the FA, they have criticised the EFL's original sanction, with the club's owner Dragan Solak saying "the way [the EFL] have subsequently treated [Southampton] is not something we will forget."
The FA judgement reads: "Tonda Eckert subsequently admitted the charges, and an independent Regulatory Commission imposed a six-week suspension from all football and football related activity, which is suspended until the end of the 2027-28 season, a £28,000 fine and a reprimand following a hearing.
"The suspended sanction will come into effect in the event he is found to have committed a breach of rules or regulations by requesting, authorising, taking, or using information from any observation of the training of another club, in whatever guise that observation may take."
The original charge of spying came after a Southampton first-team analyst intern was spotted filming a Middlesbrough training session on the Thursday before the first leg of last year's Championship playoff semifinal.
Middlesbrough complained to the EFL who then charged Southampton with breaches of regulations 3.4 (failing to act with utmost good faith toward other clubs) and 127 (prohibiting clubs from observing an opponent's training session within 72 hours of their match).
The two teams drew the first leg 0-0, with Southampton taking the return leg 2-1 to knock Middlesbrough out of the playoffs and secure their own place in the final against Hull City.
Before EFL independent disciplinary commission's hearing took place, Southampton were hit with further charges after admitting to spying on Oxford United and Ipswich Town ahead of other matches last season. Southampton were kicked out of the Championship final as a punishment for spying on semifinal opponents Middlesbrough, with the four-point deduction a sanction for the Oxford and Ipswich cases.
Southampton labelled the punishment "manifestly disproportionate to every previous sanction in the history of the English game." Since the FA charge in July, Southampton faced a nervous wait on the verdict.
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But they are pleased with the FA's decision. "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," Solak said.
"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."
Southampton are 13th in the Championship on 10 points, four points off fourth. Their next match is against local rivals Portsmouth on Oct. 11.