The Canada women’s soccer team woke up to shocking news on Friday morning as their head coach, Bev Priestman, was sent home due to a drone spying scandal. This incident has cast a shadow over the team’s gold medal defense at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Priestman decided to step away from the sidelines for the team’s recent 2-1 win over New Zealand, and Canada Soccer announced that she is suspended pending an independent review and will not coach for the rest of the tournament. Assistant Andy Spence will take over temporarily.
The players learned about Priestman’s suspension overnight while they were sleeping, according to CBC’s Devin Heroux. Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue stated in a press conference that the footage obtained by authorities was not shown to the players before their first match, and no players were involved in any unethical behavior. Blue expressed hope that FIFA’s potential punishment would not include a points deduction, given the swift actions taken by Canada Soccer to address the situation. FIFA initiated an investigation into the team on Wednesday.
Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker suggested that Priestman was likely aware of the drone usage during New Zealand’s training sessions. However, Priestman denied this allegation. The scandal originated from a Canada Soccer staff member flying a drone over New Zealand’s training earlier in the week, but it seems that this issue has been ongoing for a while. Reports indicate that both the men’s and women’s national teams have used drones for spying purposes for years, even during the women’s team’s gold medal victory in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and subsequent attempts to qualify for the Women’s World Cup.
New details revealed this week have shed light on the extent of the problem within Canada Soccer. Blue mentioned that there were instances of “attempted drone usage” by a member of the men’s coaching staff during Copa América. Although Canada faces France in their second group game on Sunday, Blue stated that withdrawing the team from the Olympics is not under consideration. He emphasized the hard work and sacrifices made by the players to become Olympians and asserted that they have not engaged in any unethical behavior.
The situation has raised concerns about the ethical practices within Canada Soccer and the use of drones for spying purposes. While the immediate focus is on the team’s performance in the Olympic Games, there is a broader issue at hand regarding fair play and sportsmanship in international competitions. Moving forward, it will be crucial for Canada Soccer to address these concerns and ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future to uphold the integrity of the sport.