‘We’ve taken enough’ – Southampton CEO hoping for no further ‘Spygate’ sanctions

Southampton feel they have been punished enough already over the ‘Spygate’ scandal as an independent regulatory commission prepares to hear charges against their coach Tonda Eckert this week.

The Saints were kicked out of last season’s Championship play-offs by an independent EFL commission after admitting to spying on three of their opponents’ training sessions. The sanction denied them the chance of promotion to the Premier League worth a minimum £200million.

They were also docked four points for the current campaign by the same panel, and could face further misery in the coming days with Eckert having been charged with misconduct by the Football Association in July over the same offences.

Eckert has told the BBC that the club have already had a “big, big punishment” while Saints chief executive Phil Parsons said: “What we hope as a club is they (the FA panel) actually recognise where we are at the moment, and what we’ve already been through, because I think it has to be taken into account.

“I really feel like we’ve taken enough. We’ve been hurt. I think it’s one of the largest sanctions ever when it comes to football, or even sporting, history.

“We lose money not being in the Premier League, but (local) businesses lose money. We had to spend a huge amount on legal fees, and it really impacts the club even further. We don’t want to be seen as a victim of this. We need to get on. We’ve had our cards dealt.”

Eckert has admitted staff were sent to spy on sessions at Oxford and Ipswich during the regular season, then at Middlesbrough before the sides met in the play-off semi-final in May. That was when a Southampton intern was challenged by Boro staff and the scandal first emerged.

The German has said he was unaware that such spying was against EFL rules.

The panel convened by the EFL found young staff felt pressured to carry out the work, which it found was “a contrived and determined plan from top down to gain a competitive advantage”.

Eckert said in an interview published by the BBC on Monday: “It’s been a big, big punishment. Absolutely unheard of in the history of sports.

“And it’s tough for me to say that because it concerns me. I’m judging on myself, not an outside situation. But I’ve asked for forgiveness for what I’ve done. I’ve apologised publicly.

“I think the punishment has been very hard on the club for the last season.”