Canada’s women’s football team has lost six points from their group in the Olympics, and their coach, Bev Priestman, has received a one-year ban following an incident in which a drone was used to spy on a rival team’s training sessions.
FIFA disclosed the penalties, which also include a £175,720 fine for the Canadian Soccer Association, one day after Priestman, originally from England, was dismissed as Canada’s Olympic head coach.
FIFA has also suspended CSA officials Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander for one year. The global football authority, FIFA, stated that the deployment of the drone breached its ethical guidelines.
“The officials were each found responsible for offensive behavior and violation of the principles of fair play in connection with the CSA’s Women’s representative team’s drone usage in the scope of the Olympic football tournament,” said a FIFA statement.
Following a report from the New Zealand Olympic Committee about a drone over their training session on Monday, Priestman “voluntarily” stepped aside from her coaching duties for Canada’s opening match against the Kiwis.
After the incident, both FIFA and the CSA initiated investigations, and it was deemed highly probable that Priestman was aware of the drone’s use.
The CSA has the right to challenge this decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In response to the penalties, CSA’s chief executive Kevin Blue and the Canadian Olympic Committee’s chief David Shoemaker considered an appeal.
“We are exploring options to appeal on the basis that it is excessively punitive towards our Women’s National Team players—who were not involved in any unethical behavior,” Blue said.
“Canada Soccer took swift action to suspend the implicated staff members and is also proceeding with a broad independent review that may lead to further disciplinary action.”
Shoemaker added, “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.”
Priestman issued a statement on Wednesday, accepting responsibility for her colleagues’ actions following the submission of a scouting report by Lombardi to Mander.
The next day, a French court reported that Lombardi received an eight-month suspended jail sentence for flying a drone without a license in an urban area, to which he pleaded guilty.
Shoemaker noted new information could potentially cast a shadow over Canada’s women’s football achievements at the Tokyo Olympics, following Canadian media reports about past drone use at tournaments.
Assistant coach Andy Spence will oversee the team for the rest of the Games, with the defending Olympic champions set to play France next.
Despite winning their first match against New Zealand, the six-point deduction from FIFA puts Canada at minus three points in Group A, with upcoming matches against the host nation and Colombia.
