Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue has said there was an attempt at drone spying at the 2024 Copa América, but insisted that men’s national team head coach Jesse Marsch was only aware of it after the fact.
The federation has become embroiled in an expanding scandal over its use of drones to illegally spy on opponents.
On Thursday, women’s national team head coach Bev Priestman was sent home from the Olympics after two of her staffers were caught using drones to spy on New Zealand’s training on multiple occasions.
That was followed by a bombshell report from TSN claiming that Canada’s women’s and men’s national teams have routinely been spying on opponents for years.
In a call with media on Friday, Blue — who has only been in his position since February — admitted that the issue of spying appeared to be widespread among Canada Soccer.
“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 said that the issue took place as recently as the 2024 Copa América, a tournament at which Canada had an encouraging fourth-place finish under new head coach Marsch.
“I’m aware of an instance of attempted drone usage during Copa América,” Blue said. “My current understanding is that the fact pattern of that instance is significantly different than what occurred here [at the Olympics], especially as it relates to the potential impact on competitive integrity.”
Blue added that Marsch only learned about the spying attempts after the fact.
“He explained to me that he denounced it immediately and forcefully, and has communicated that to his staff, both the existing staff and staff that were from previous coaching staffs that are still with us,” Blue said.
[lawrence-related id=78788,78621,78611]