Southampton manager Tonda Eckert is facing a lengthy FA ban after being charged with three counts of spying on opposition training.Daily Mail Sport expect Eckert, who has seven days to respond, not to contest the charge after accepting culpability while openly cooperating with the FA’s thorough interview process.It comes after Southampton were expelled from the Championship play-offs and slapped with a four-point deduction for the 2026-27 season by the EFL when Daily Mail Sport revealed an intern analyst was spotted observing Middlesbrough training on the eve of their play-off semi-final clash in May.The EFL’s probe revealed two further instances of spying, authorised by Eckert, last season.Southampton sources believe they have already faced sufficient punishment and would deem any potential sporting sanction by the FA excessive – given the penalty from the EFL, which Saints have urged the FA to consider.They are also hopeful that Eckert’s compliance with the investigation will earn favour with the disciplinary commission and avoid a ban. Southampton boss Tonda Eckert has been charged by the FA with three breaches of misconduct following the Spygate scandal The Saints were expelled from the Championship play-off final in May following the sagaThat said, should the FA opt for a ban, sources with knowledge of the situation suggest Eckert could be prevented from managing in England for up to two years.If the FA decide on a less severe punishment, a fine would be imposed. Saints hope any sanction will be a suspended touchline ban at worst.There is very little precedent for the case. Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa was not charged by the FA when he admitted to sending a member of staff to spy on Derby County’s training in January 2019. The EFL, however, imposed a £200,000 fine – which Bielsa personally paid.FIFA banned Canada women’s head coach Bev Priestman from football for 12 months when she authorised surveillance of New Zealand’s training during the 2024 Paris Olympics. This, though, involved a drone.Despite the absence of similar cases in England, Rule E.3.1 – which Eckert has been charged with – is extremely broad and encompasses misconduct from bad language to bringing the game into disrepute.For example, Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri was given a four-match ban last season for spitting at Leeds United fans. While vastly dissimilar incidents, both cases breach the same rule.Eckert is carrying out his responsibilities as usual at Southampton and focused on preparations for the new season, with the first team set to travel to Germany for pre-season training. Southampton insist Eckert maintains their full support.Acknowledging the charge, Saints said: ‘Southampton Football Club and First Team Head Coach Tonda Eckert acknowledge today’s charges from The FA relating to a breach of Rule E3.1.’Tonda and the club will continue to cooperate fully and openly with The FA. A Southampton analyst was caught watching Middlesbrough’s training session ahead of the play-off semi final’Our focus remains on preparations for the 2026/27 Championship season. The club remains fully supportive of Tonda and his staff as we work towards our ambition of returning to the Premier League.’In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Eckert said: ‘It’s been an emotional summer. I can’t lie, obviously, when the news broke towards the back end of last season, it’s tough.’It’s not easy in that very moment. It’s not easy to look into the eyes of the players. They’re just so disappointed, and so many emotions coming out.’You get so many threats at one point. You have police protection at one point; you can’t drive a car. It’s tough to deal with that for the very moment.’When things calmed down with time, and I went back home, different challenges at home, you have a moment to reflect.’I think that over the months there’s also been a lot of positives that we can take into next season.’After a couple of weeks, that excitement comes back in to go again and show what we are about.’Eckert and Southampton came under significant scrutiny surrounding the whole incident and were heavily criticised for their poor communication and lack of accountability when the news broke. Things later intensified when the written reasons for the punishment were released, with several damning revelations about the involvement of Eckert in the spying operation. Leaked WhatsApp messages revealed the German showing his ‘love’ of the cheating, with one explaining how Salt was told, ‘You legend. Manager loved it’ after a spying mission on Oxford United in December.Southampton’s attempts to cover up their cheating were similarly eye-watering. Despite the pressure, Saints owner Dragan Solak opted to stick with Eckert rather than sack him, with the German coach addressing fans in a video statement in June. Eckert, speaking in full for the first time since the ruling, hardly blinked in the lengthy video, saying: ‘Hi, Saints supporters. What I’m going to say is not going to be perfect, but I will try to be as honest and clear as I can be.’I think you deserve that. For everything that’s happened, I do want to apologise, and I hold my hand up because as a head coach, I am responsible.’I am responsible for everything that has happened in this football club. I am responsible for everything that has happened in my coaching staff. Eckert, who could be banned from football, publicly apologised to Saints supporters in June Southampton owner Dragan Solak threw his backing behind Eckert despite the scandal’I do apologise to the supporters, to everyone who has travelled with us, who has supported us over so many games.’In the clip entitled: ‘A personal message from Tonda Eckert’, he went on: ‘To the ones who have shared emotions game by game, who have managed to bring us all the way up to this very end of the season.’We were supposed to play the biggest game of the season. I apologise to the players, who have done absolutely everything that they can. They have done absolutely everything in the last six months to bring this club back to where it belongs. They would have deserved to play the final.’He added: ‘They would have deserved to play the final with you, just like they’ve done two years ago, and just like they’ve done in the semi-final against Man City. ‘It hurts to see the employees of the club, it hurts to see the staff, it hurts to see the players who have invested so much in the preparation for games.’Those who have invested so much to leave their families at home to recover and to prepare for the games coming up, who had hurt so much.’To see their pain on the day the decision came in, because it has such a big impact, not just on them and their career, but also on their families. I apologise to all of the clubs that have been involved, and mostly I apologise to our supporters.’Eckert then went on to ‘give context’ to the spying, arguing that his experiences in different leagues have coloured his thinking. He explained: ‘When I worked in Italy for over four years, every starting line-up that we’ve chosen for the games was always out in the media before games.’The reason is that our training sessions, especially the ones before games, have always been observed by the media and have always been observed by opponent teams that we came up against.'[Pep] Guardiola has spoken about this at his time at Bayern Munich, that it has been common practice in Germany to observe training sessions, knowing that other teams would do the same.’I don’t want to say this to excuse anything that we have done. I just want to give you context in the way that I grew up in the football world.’There are different rules in England. There are different rules from the EFL. And I should have known them.’He later added: ‘I am a young coach. I have made a mistake, and I take full responsibility. I want to thank Dragan and the board for the support, especially in times like this.’With everything that I have said, without script and without a predefined statement. Speaking to you from the heart, I hope that you have an overview of what has happened over the last weeks.’I hope that over time you can understand and forgive, and I hope to see you all soon.’