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New WhatsApp messages have revealed how Southampton carried out a spying operation against their Championship rivals.
Junior members of the staff told the Independent Disciplinary Commission how head coach Tonda Eckert put them under “extreme pressure” to perform a task they were clearly uncomfortable with and felt was morally wrong.
The exchanges are detailed in written reasons for the League Arbitration Panel, which is appointed to hear the appeal against Southampton. Eliminated from Championship play-offs And four points deducted from next season.
The Saints pleaded guilty to spying charges at Oxford United and Ipswich Town in the regular season and then at Middlesbrough ahead of the play-off semi-final.
Southampton’s conduct was described as a written reason for the punishment “Conceived and determined planning from the top down” Which was approved by head coach Eckert.
Now the WhatsApp messages have been revealed in the league arbitration panel’s report detailing how the plan was orchestrated
The messages detail how:
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A junior analyst sent to observe the Oxford United train ahead of their December match with Southampton sent a message to colleagues saying, “I really had no choice and was not given the chance to say no. I was an intern and doing what I was told.”
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When he sent details from that session to his boss, he got a WhatsApp reading, “You’re legendary. Manager likes it.”
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Asked to carry out a second espionage mission in Ipswich, he expressed concern but was told, “Anyone who is stubborn has to go”.
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After being caught, another analyst at the club sent a message to his colleague saying: “I always said I was never happy about it and it wasn’t right but no one listened to me!”
The document explains how the intern was caught by Middlesbrough staff after he spied on their training sessions. The build-up to their play-off semi-final in May
It details how he discovered he had accused Southampton of espionage while on a train back from Middlesbrough to Southampton.
And it reveals how Southampton then tried to remove the intern’s images from the internet.
