Southampton sticking by manager Eckert after Spygate controversy

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Southampton sticking by manager Eckert after Spygate controversy

2026-06-02 16:02 Last Updated At：16:10

SOUTHAMPTON, England (AP) — Southampton manager Tonda Eckert will keep his job despite helping to orchestrate the Spygate controversy that cost the club a chance of promotion to the Premier League, owner Dragan Šolak said on Tuesday.

Southampton was expelled from the second-tier Championship playoffs last month after admitting to repeatedly spying on opponents' training sessions and also given a four-point deduction for next season.

In its written reasons published on Monday, an arbitration panel laid bare the influence of Eckert in the scandal, saying it was “a contrived and determined plan from top down to gain a competitive advantage” and analysts who carried out the unauthorized filming “felt pressurised to do the observations that Mr. Eckert and the senior coaches wished them to do.”

However, Šolak said in a video message to fans published on Tuesday that the club believes Eckert “is the man to take us forward.”

“As a board, we are fully behind him,” the Serbian owner said, “and together we only have one objective — we want promotion back to (the) Premier League.”

In an interview with the BBC, Šolak said Eckert "deserves a second chance and I would give it to him.”

Southampton qualified for the playoff final — after beating Middlesbrough, one of the clubs it spied on — before getting expelled. That deprived the Saints of the chance of promotion to the top flight and a guaranteed windfall of at least $270 million in future earnings.

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Kenyan president defends US Ebola quarantine center amid protests

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s president on Monday defended the establishment of an Ebola quarantine facility by the U.S., a move that led to protests despite a court order blocking the plan.

President William Ruto on Monday night said the U.S. had a long-standing partnership with Kenya on health matters and that the quarantine facility at Laikipia Air Base was one of 24 facilities that had been established in the event of an Ebola outbreak in the country.

Some Kenyans have opposed the Laikipia facility after the U.S. last week said no American Ebola patient would be allowed to return home and that patients would instead be quarantined at the facility in Kenya. The U.S. intends to commit $13 million to the partnership with Kenya.

The high court on Tuesday extended orders issued Friday suspending the construction of the facility and the arrival of foreign patients. The case had been filed by the Law Society of Kenya and a constitutional watchdog, Katiba Institute, who cited Kenya's fragile health system as unable to handle foreign patients.

Speaking for the first time on the matter, Ruto said he agreed to the establishment of the facility based on existing bilateral relations.

“When President Trump asked the government of Kenya to support them by having a center at Laikipia Air Base, I gave the OK because it was an agreement and a partnership with friends who have worked with Kenya for 30-40 years,” he said.

Ruto said the facilities established across the country under the partnership would also benefit Kenyans in the event of an Ebola outbreak.

“We are a responsible government. We know what we are doing. People should relax. Politicians should avoid reckless, unnecessary talk that doesn’t mean anything,” he said.