Bev Priestman, the head coach of the Canada women’s football team, along with two other officials, has received a one-year ban from Fifa related to a spying incident.
Analyst Joseph Lombardi and assistant coach Jasmine Mander were also handed bans after accusations that they utilized drones to monitor the coaching sessions of their opponents, New Zealand, on July 22, just a day prior to their match in Paris. Fifa stated that they “were each found responsible for offensive behaviour and violating the principles of fair play.”
As a consequence, Canada has been deducted six points in Group A of the Olympic football tournament, and the association has incurred a fine of 200,000 Swiss francs (£175,000).
This points deduction does not disqualify Canada from the tournament. However, to advance, the team must win their two remaining matches in Group A and secure three points in total. After their opening victory over New Zealand (2-1), they are set to face group leaders France on Sunday in Saint-Étienne, followed by a match against Colombia on Thursday in Nice.
At 38 years old, Priestman from County Durham, England, took on the role of head coach in November 2020, leading Canada to Olympic glory in Tokyo 2021 with a victory over Sweden. She is currently under contract until the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
On Wednesday, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) announced that a “non-accredited member of the Canada Soccer support team” had been apprehended by French authorities in Saint-Étienne for the improper use of a drone.
Following the incident, Priestman was suspended by the national soccer federation and subsequently removed from the Olympic tournament. Lombardi and Mander also returned home. Priestman denied any wrongdoing but opted to voluntarily “step aside” for the match against New Zealand, which Canada won under the direction of Andy Spence, the former manager of Everton’s women’s team.
Kevin Blue, CEO and general secretary of Canada Soccer, indicated on Friday that “new information regarding prior drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, has come to our attention.”
David Shoemaker, chief executive of the Canadian Olympic Committee, suggested that the intel implied Priestman was likely aware of the drone activity and acknowledged reports of similar conduct during the last Olympics. “It seems there is information that could tarnish that Olympic success in Tokyo,” he mentioned at a press conference.
“It makes me ill, it makes me sick to my stomach, to think that there could be something that calls into question … one of my favorite Olympic moments in history. I know Canada Soccer will thoroughly investigate all of this, including the Tokyo situation. [We will] ensure they reach the bottom of it.”
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Fifa stated: “The CSA [Canadian Soccer Association] was found culpable for not adhering to the relevant Fifa regulations, failing to ensure that its participating officials in the OFT [Olympic football tournament] complied with the prohibition on operating drones over any training facilities.
“The officials were each deemed responsible for offensive behaviour and violating the principles of fair play concerning the CSA’s women’s representative team’s use of drones within the scope of the OFT.”
Fifa also noted that the decision could be appealed at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, potentially through a special expedited hearing during the ongoing Olympic Games.
