Tag: Bev Priestman

FIFA hands Canada six-point penalty amid spying scandal

The defending gold medalists could now be looking at an early exit

FIFA has announced a six-point penalty for Canada’s Olympic women’s team amid an ongoing scandal over the usage of drones to spy on opponents.

In addition, head coach Bev Priestman and assistants Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander were all hit with one-year bans.

The scandal exploded into view this week when the New Zealand Olympic committee publicly accused Canada of using a drone to spy on a training session.

In response, Canada apologized and announced that Lombardi and Mander had been sent home for their role in the spying. On Thursday, Priestman was also sent home after she was suspended by Canada Soccer.

Canada won its Olympics opener 2-1 over New Zealand on Thursday, but the defending gold medalist now faces a difficult path to advancement after the six-point penalty.

Canada now sits with minus-3 points after one game, making three points the maximum the team will be able to achieve. Wins over France and Colombia are likely required to give the team a chance.

A ‘systemic’ problem

Though the incident at the Olympics was the catalyst for the scandal, the issue of Canadian teams spying on opponents with drones is much more widespread then one tournament — or one team.

On a call with media on Friday, Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue said that using drones to illegally spy on opponents has been “systemic.”

“The more I learn about this specific matter, the more concerned I get about a potential long-term, deeply embedded systemic culture of this type of thing occurring, which is obviously completely unacceptable,” Blue said.

Blue also said that Canada’s men’s team attempted to spy on opponents during the Copa América this summer, though he insisted that head coach Jesse Marsch was unaware until after the fact.

A bombshell report from TSN this week said that Canada’s women’s and men’s national teams have routinely been spying on opponents for years.

Another report from TSN said that in 2021, then-men’s national team head coach John Herdman showed his team illegally obtained footage of a Honduras training session prior to a World Cup qualifier.

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Canada sends Priestman home from Olympics as spy scandal expands

The scandal is more widespread than it initially appeared

The Canadian Olympic Committee has sent women’s soccer head coach Bev Priestman home from the Olympics amid an expanding scandal involving spying on opponents with drones.

This week, the New Zealand Olympic committee publicly accused Canada of using a drone to spy on a training session on July 22.

In response, Canada apologized and announced that two staffers had been sent home for their role in the spying. Priestman, meanwhile, volunteered to not coach her team’s Olympic opener against New Zealand, which Canada won 2-1 on Thursday.

But hours after that match, the scandal took a major turn as Priestman was sent home from the Olympics — but not just for her staff’s admitted spying on New Zealand.

As Canada Soccer general secretary Kevin Blue said in a statement announcing a suspension of Priestman, there were more instances of spying that had been uncovered by the federation.

“Over the past 24 hours, additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” the statement read.

“In light of these new revelations, Canada Soccer has made the decision to suspend women’s national team head coach, Bev Priestman for the remainder of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and until the completion of our recently announced independent external review.”

Just minutes before Canada Soccer’s statement was released, a bombshell report from TSN said that Canada’s women’s and men’s national teams have routinely been spying on opponents for years.

The spying reportedly included Canada’s gold medal-winning women’s team from the 2021 Olympics.

“Most people see this as cheating, which it is,” a source said to TSN. “Some of our coaches just see it as a competitive advantage and justify it by saying everyone does it, which is also not true. Not everyone cheats and neither should we.”

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Canada tries to contain fallout of Olympic spying scandal

Canada has admitted to a second spying incident

Canada’s Olympic women’s soccer team seems to be aware it could face some real consequences for spying on New Zealand’s team with a drone.

On Tuesday, the New Zealand Olympic committee publicly accused Canada of using a drone to spy on a training session on July 22. New Zealand reported the incident to local police, who detained a staff member of the Canadian team.

In response, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) issued an apology for the behavior of “a non-accredited member of the Canada Soccer support team.”

One day later, the COC said that a second spying incident had come to light, this one having taken place on July 19.

As a result, the COC took action. First it sent home Joseph Lombardi, an “unaccredited analyst” and assistant coach Jasmine Mander, who oversees Lombardi.

Canada coach Bev Priestman has voluntarily removed herself from coaching the team’s opening match of the tournament, which takes place Thursday against New Zealand.

The COC also said Canada Soccer staff would undergo “mandatory ethics training.”

In a COC statement, Priestman apologized and took responsibility for the actions of two of her staff members.

“On behalf of our entire team, I first and foremost want to apologize to the players and staff at New Zealand Football and to the players on Team Canada,” Priestman said. “This does not represent the values that our team stands for.

“I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program. Accordingly, to emphasize our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily withdraw from coaching the match on Thursday. In the spirit of accountability, I do this with the interests of both teams in mind and to ensure everyone feels that the sportsmanship of this game is upheld.”

Canada is the defending gold medalist, having defeated Sweden in the Olympic final in Japan in 2021.

The New Zealand Olympic committee has filed a complaint with the International Olympic Committee, and the COC said it would continue to review the matter and would take further action if needed. FIFA also announced that it has opened disciplinary proceedings against Canada.

In other words, this story is far from over.

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