Canadian women’s football team loses six points, coach banned over drone scandal

PARIS – Canada were deducted six points in the Olympic women’s football tournament and their coach Bev Priestman banned for a year, global governing body Fifa said on July 27, following a drone spying scandal that has tainted their gold medal defence.

The Canadian Soccer Association, which said it was exploring how it could appeal against the six-point deduction, was also fined 200,000 Swiss francs (S$304,000) in a case that rocked the Paris Games.

Priestman, who has coached the team since 2020 and led them to the Olympic title in Tokyo in 2021, and Canadian officials Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander have been banned from any football-related activity for one year for “offensive behaviour and violation of the principles of fair play”, Fifa said.

New Zealand had complained that Canadian staff flew drones over their training sessions before their opening fixture, which Canada won 2-1.

Canada’s players had insisted they were innocent of wrongdoing after that match.

“There was a lot of emotion, frustration and humiliation because as a player, it doesn’t reflect our values and what we want to represent as competitors at the Olympics,” defender Vanessa Gilles said.

“The Games represent fair play. As Canadians, these are not our values or those of our country. We are not cheats.”

Following Fifa’s decision, the defending champions will drop to minus three points in Group A, with two matches left to play and a mountain to climb if they are to qualify for the last eight.

The decision remains subject to a potential appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“We feel terrible for the athletes on the Canadian women’s Olympic soccer team, who as far as we understand played no role in this matter,” said David Shoemaker, chief and secretary-general of the Canadian Olympic Committee.

“In support of the athletes, together with Canada Soccer, we are exploring rights of appeal related to the six-point deduction at this Olympic tournament.”

Canada Soccer chief and general secretary Kevin Blue described the Fifa decision as “excessively punitive” towards the players.

Canada are scheduled to play France, who top Group A on three points, on July 28 but the result was not available at press time. On July 31, the Canadians will wrap up their group campaign against Colombia.

The top two teams in each group and the two best third-ranked teams qualify for the Olympic quarter-finals.

The incident caused Priestman and the other officials involved to be suspended by Canada Soccer, the sport’s national governing body, and sent home from the Games.

The Canadian Olympic Committee removed Priestman on July 25 after her suspension by Canada Soccer. Assistant Andy Spence will coach Canada for the remainder of the Games.

Priestman apologised on July 24 for what had happened and said ultimate responsibility lay with her. “This does not represent the values that our team stand for,” she said.

Priestman, 38, who had previously worked as women’s development officer for England’s Football Association, extended her contract in January through the 2027 Women’s World Cup, having earned praise from Canada Soccer for her “pivotal part” in the development of the women’s programme.

In a job advertisement on Canada Soccer’s website in January, the women’s national team said they were seeking a performance analyst who was “able to operate drone” and a “working knowledge of managing training camera is preferred”.

Canadian sports network TSN reported that drone use predates the 2024 Olympics, with sources telling the network the team had also filmed other opponents’ training, including at the previous Olympics in 2021.

There was no immediate comment from Canada Soccer or the Canadian Olympic Committee.

On July 26, former Canadian national team players Christine Sinclair and Stephanie Labbe said players had never been shown drone footage during their time in the team.

Kaylyn Kyle, former national team player who competed at the 2012 London Olympics, said players were now paying the price for other people’s actions.

“Only the players suffer for stupidity and selfishness. The amount of work that goes into prep for an OG’s (Olympic Games) to only have their dreams and hopes shattered,” she said on X.

In men’s football, hosts France secured a second straight win as Kiliann Sildillia struck for a 1-0 success over Guinea, while Japan joined Spain in qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Japan sealed their spot with a 1-0 over Mali, who missed a late penalty. In another late game on July 27, the United States beat New Zealand 4-1. REUTERS, AFP