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FIFA suspended Canadian women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman for one year, deducted six points from the team’s Olympic group stage and imposed a fine on Saturday in response to Canada flying a drone over New Zealand’s training sessions before the Games began.
The sanction immediately and seriously damaged Canada’s chances of winning a second consecutive gold medal, having won the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, a run that was immediately called into question when the drone scandal broke.
Canada Soccer and the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) are considering appealing FIFA’s decision to deduct six points, calling it “excessively punitive” for the players, they said in statements Saturday.
“We are sorry to the athletes of Canada’s women’s Olympic soccer team who, to our knowledge, played no role in this matter,” said COC CEO David Shoemaker.
The drone operator involved in the incident that sparked a major investigation into Canada Soccer, team analyst Joseph Lombardi, has been suspended for one year, as has assistant coach Jasmine Mander. The chairman of FIFA’s appeals committee made the decision.
FIFA found violations of Article 13 of its code of conduct and Article 6.1 of the Olympic Football Tournament Regulations, both related to fair play. FIFA also noted that the decision was taken very quickly because of its impact on the outcome of the ongoing Olympic tournament. Canada, in Group A, won its first match against New Zealand 2-1 and will face hosts France on Sunday.
The fine imposed by FIFA amounts to 200,000 Swiss francs, the equivalent of 312,700 Canadian dollars (or about 225,000 US dollars), another blow to a federation that has struggled financially over the past year.
Although the incident occurred at the Olympic Games and the International Olympic Committee can also impose its own sanctions, FIFA also has jurisdiction as the international governing body, as it exercises “control and direction” of both the men’s and women’s Olympic tournaments.
New Zealand had directly asked FIFA not to award points to Canada for its group stage win over the Ferns before Saturday’s decision. New Zealand welcomed the “quick response” against Canada but said it still believed Canada had “an unfair sporting advantage gained by filming our key tactical sessions.”
“It is disappointing that New Zealand has been put in such a position by actions of this nature, which impact on the entire tournament, but our focus now turns firmly to our remaining matches against Colombia and France,” New Zealand Football said in a statement on Saturday.
Canada Soccer could request a “reasoned decision,” which would include a more detailed explanation of FIFA’s decision that would be publicly posted on FIFA’s legal homepage, and the decision could also be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Canada could still qualify from Group A (which includes France, Colombia and New Zealand) if it wins all three of its games to earn three points at the end of the group stage, depending on other results. With the Olympic tournament limited to 12 teams, eight must qualify, meaning the two best third-place teams will advance to the quarterfinals. Canada has a slim chance of even qualifying with a single point, but it would need to rely on further poor performances and goal difference to advance.
Canada Soccer removed Priestman from the Olympics on Friday, saying “additional information” had come to light regarding the past use of drones against opponents ahead of the Paris Games. The federation has vowed to conduct its own investigation into its entire program.
Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue said based on what he’s learned so far, he’s concerned there’s “a potentially long-term, deeply ingrained systemic culture” of surveillance of other teams.
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The Canadian team hoped to avoid any direct repercussions on the team in France. Les Bleus have repeatedly stressed that the players were not aware of the use of drones and should not be punished.
“Specifically, we do not believe that a point deduction in this tournament would be fair to our players, especially in light of the significant and immediate steps we have taken to address the situation,” he said Friday. Blue used that same argument again in his statement Saturday: “Canada Soccer has taken swift action to suspend the personnel involved and is also conducting a thorough independent review that could lead to further disciplinary action.”
The joint decision to appeal FIFA’s decision, particularly given Canada’s six points deducted for its participation in the group stage, is not surprising, but it may not prove fruitful. FIFA’s disciplinary committee has been primarily concerned with what happened at the Olympics last week. While the players were not involved in the use of drones or other wrongdoing, they nonetheless potentially – albeit unwittingly – benefited from their use.
After New Zealand team staff reported a drone flying over their training session in Saint-Étienne on July 22, they alerted local police. Lombardi, an “unaccredited analyst” for the Canadian women’s team, was arrested and police recovered footage of a previous New Zealand training session on July 19.
The Canadian soccer team tried to avoid further punishment by sending Lombardi and Mander (his assistant coach) home. Priestman also announced she would not coach Canada’s opening match against New Zealand.
But the situation quickly changed.
Blue said he was aware of several incidents under the program based on anecdotal evidence, including an attempt to use a drone to monitor an opponent’s training session at the Copa America.
A representative for Priestman said The Athletic that she was shocked and devastated by FIFA’s decision.
(Photo: Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)