Soccer-Southampton manager Eckert authorised spying scheme, commission says

The ‌commission, appointed by the English Football League, said junior staff were pressured to carry out the spying with the aim of gaining sporting advantage over opponents, including Middlesbrough, whom ‌Southampton had beaten in the semi-finals. Middlesbrough will replace Southampton against Hull City on ‌Saturday in the playoff final, known as the richest game in football due to the riches of the Premier League that await the winner.

Southampton manager Tonda Eckert accepted that he ​had signed off on the plan ​to spy on opponents' training ‌sessions ​that led to the club's expulsion from the Championship playoff final, an Independent Disciplinary Commission said in its ruling. The ‌commission, appointed by the English Football League, said junior staff were pressured to carry out the spying with the aim of gaining sporting advantage over opponents, including Middlesbrough, whom ‌Southampton had beaten in the semi-finals.

Middlesbrough will replace Southampton against Hull City on ‌Saturday in the playoff final, known as the richest game in football due to the riches of the Premier League that await the winner. "Mr Eckert accepted, as he must, that information such as ⁠team ​selection and injuries is ⁠sensitive information which a club would wish to keep private in the build up to a game," ⁠the commission wrote in its ruling.

"He also accepted that he had specifically authorised the observations ​to obtain information about formation and about the availability of a key player." The ⁠commission, which also handed Southampton a four-point penalty for the next season, criticised the way junior staff ⁠were ​used in the spying scheme.

"The way in which junior members of staff were put under pressure to carry out activities which they felt were, at the ⁠least, morally wrong," the commission said in its written reasons for the ruling, which ⁠the EFL published ⁠on Thursday. "Such staff were in a vulnerable position without job security and with limited ability to object to, or resist the ‌instructions given ‌to them."