diff --git a/app/services/tournament_snapshot_builder.rb b/app/services/tournament_snapshot_builder.rb
index f516a30..c69339f 100644
--- a/app/services/tournament_snapshot_builder.rb
+++ b/app/services/tournament_snapshot_builder.rb
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ class TournamentSnapshotBuilder
       playoff_teams_amount: tournament.playoff_teams_amount,
       instant_finalists_amount: tournament.instant_finalists_amount,
       intermediate_round_participants_amount: tournament.intermediate_round_participants_amount,
+      sync_generated_at: Time.current.iso8601(6),
       timer_end: tournament.timer_end&.iso8601,
       teams: teams_payload,
       stages: stages_payload,
diff --git a/app/services/tournament_snapshot_importer.rb b/app/services/tournament_snapshot_importer.rb
index ef75fcb..e960ea5 100644
--- a/app/services/tournament_snapshot_importer.rb
+++ b/app/services/tournament_snapshot_importer.rb
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ class TournamentSnapshotImporter
   def import!
     Tournament.transaction do
       tournament.lock!
+      return tournament if stale_snapshot?
 
       existing_teams = tournament.teams.to_a
       existing_stages = tournament.stages.to_a
@@ -59,6 +60,7 @@ class TournamentSnapshotImporter
     root_attrs[:code] = tournament.code if code_taken_by_another_tournament?(root_attrs[:code])
     root_attrs[:timer_end] = parse_time(snapshot[:timer_end])
     root_attrs[:sync_source_tournament_id] = snapshot[:id]
+    root_attrs[:sync_last_imported_snapshot_at] = snapshot_generated_at
     tournament.update!(root_attrs)
   end
 
@@ -162,6 +164,17 @@ class TournamentSnapshotImporter
     Time.zone.parse(value)
   end
 
+  def snapshot_generated_at
+    parse_time(snapshot[:sync_generated_at])
+  end
+
+  def stale_snapshot?
+    return false if snapshot_generated_at.nil?
+    return false if tournament.sync_last_imported_snapshot_at.nil?
+
+    snapshot_generated_at <= tournament.sync_last_imported_snapshot_at
+  end
+
   def code_taken_by_another_tournament?(code)
     return false if code.blank?
 
diff --git a/db/migrate/20260414103000_add_sync_snapshot_tracking_to_tournaments.rb b/db/migrate/20260414103000_add_sync_snapshot_tracking_to_tournaments.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d0d453b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20260414103000_add_sync_snapshot_tracking_to_tournaments.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+class AddSyncSnapshotTrackingToTournaments < ActiveRecord::Migration[7.0]
+  def change
+    add_column :tournaments, :sync_last_imported_snapshot_at, :datetime
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/e2e/http/tournament_follow_sync_spec.rb b/spec/e2e/http/tournament_follow_sync_spec.rb
index d5fcc44..1c2efa7 100644
--- a/spec/e2e/http/tournament_follow_sync_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/e2e/http/tournament_follow_sync_spec.rb
@@ -28,13 +28,16 @@ RSpec.describe 'Tournament follower sync HTTP E2E' do
   let(:follower_anonymous_client) { TurniereE2E::ApiClient.new(base_url: follower_base_url) }
 
   it 'pushes full source lifecycle into read only follower tournament' do
+    log_phase!('seed unrelated tournaments')
     source_noise = seed_unrelated_tournaments!(client: source_owner_client, prefix: 'Source Noise', range: 2..4)
     follower_noise = seed_unrelated_tournaments!(client: follower_owner_client, prefix: 'Follower Noise', range: 5..7)
 
+    log_phase!('create source and follower tournaments')
     source = create_group_stage_tournament(client: source_owner_client, public: false, name_prefix: 'Sync Source')
     follower = create_follower_tournament(client: follower_owner_client, public: true, name_prefix: 'Sync Follower')
     expect(source.fetch(:id)).not_to eq(follower.fetch(:id))
 
+    log_phase!('configure sync and verify initial replication')
     configure_sync = source_owner_client.patch("/tournaments/#{source.fetch(:id)}", body: {
                                           sync_target_url: "#{follower_base_url}/tournaments/#{follower.fetch(:id)}/sync_state",
                                           sync_auth_token: sync_token
@@ -47,6 +50,7 @@ RSpec.describe 'Tournament follower sync HTTP E2E' do
     expect(tournament_signature(follower)).to eq(tournament_signature(source))
     expect(synced_team_id_pairs(source: source, follower: follower)).not_to be_empty
 
+    log_phase!('tighten playoff cutoff and rename teams')
     update_cutoff = source_owner_client.patch("/tournaments/#{source.fetch(:id)}", body: {
                                          playoff_teams_amount: 4,
                                          instant_finalists_amount: 4,
@@ -68,9 +72,11 @@ RSpec.describe 'Tournament follower sync HTTP E2E' do
     follower_noise.concat(seed_unrelated_tournaments!(client: follower_owner_client, prefix: 'Follower Midway Noise', range: 3..4))
     exercise_unrelated_requests!(source_noise: source_noise, follower_noise: follower_noise)
 
+    log_phase!('play group stage with deciders')
     play_group_with_decider_lifecycle!(source_id: source.fetch(:id), groups: source_group_stage.fetch(:groups).sort_by { |group| group.fetch(:number) })
     exercise_unrelated_requests!(source_noise: source_noise, follower_noise: follower_noise)
 
+    log_phase!('verify playoff generation replicated')
     source = fetch_tournament(client: source_anonymous_client, tournament_id: source.fetch(:id))
     follower = wait_for_tournament_sync!(source_tournament_id: source.fetch(:id), follower_tournament_id: follower.fetch(:id))
     expect(tournament_signature(follower)).to eq(tournament_signature(source))
@@ -87,9 +93,11 @@ RSpec.describe 'Tournament follower sync HTTP E2E' do
     follower_noise.concat(seed_unrelated_tournaments!(client: follower_owner_client, prefix: 'Follower Playoff Noise', range: 2..5))
     exercise_unrelated_requests!(source_noise: source_noise, follower_noise: follower_noise)
 
+    log_phase!('finish playoff bracket')
     finish_playoff_bracket!(source_id: source.fetch(:id))
     exercise_unrelated_requests!(source_noise: source_noise, follower_noise: follower_noise)
 
+    log_phase!('verify final follower state and takeover')
     source = fetch_tournament(client: source_anonymous_client, tournament_id: source.fetch(:id))
     follower = wait_for_tournament_sync!(source_tournament_id: source.fetch(:id), follower_tournament_id: follower.fetch(:id))
     expect(tournament_signature(follower)).to eq(tournament_signature(source))
@@ -104,6 +112,11 @@ RSpec.describe 'Tournament follower sync HTTP E2E' do
     expect(takeover_update[:status]).to eq(200)
   end
 
+  def log_phase!(message)
+    puts "phase #{message}"
+    $stdout.flush
+  end
+
   def login_client(base_url:, email:, password:)
     client = TurniereE2E::ApiClient.new(base_url: base_url)
     response = client.login!(email: email, password: password)
diff --git a/spec/services/tournament_snapshot_importer_spec.rb b/spec/services/tournament_snapshot_importer_spec.rb
index 0f4b197..129d6f0 100644
--- a/spec/services/tournament_snapshot_importer_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/tournament_snapshot_importer_spec.rb
@@ -20,5 +20,22 @@ RSpec.describe TournamentSnapshotImporter do
       expect(follower.matches.count).to eq(source.matches.count)
       expect(follower.teams.pluck(:sync_source_id)).to match_array(snapshot.fetch(:teams).map { |team| team.fetch(:id) })
     end
+
+    it 'ignores stale snapshots that arrive after a newer one' do
+      follower = create(:tournament, read_only_mode: true, sync_auth_token: 'shared-secret')
+
+      newer_source = create(:tournament, name: 'Newer name')
+      older_source = create(:tournament, name: 'Older name')
+
+      newer_snapshot = TournamentSnapshotBuilder.build(newer_source).merge(sync_generated_at: '2026-04-14T10:30:02Z')
+      older_snapshot = TournamentSnapshotBuilder.build(older_source).merge(sync_generated_at: '2026-04-14T10:30:01Z')
+
+      described_class.import!(tournament: follower, snapshot: newer_snapshot)
+      described_class.import!(tournament: follower, snapshot: older_snapshot)
+
+      follower.reload
+      expect(follower.name).to eq('Newer name')
+      expect(follower.sync_last_imported_snapshot_at).to eq(Time.zone.parse('2026-04-14T10:30:02Z'))
+    end
   end
 end