The women’s football team from Canada has faced a deduction of six points in the Olympic group stage, and head coach Bev Priestman is banned for one year following the use of a drone to observe a rival team’s training sessions.
Fifa revealed the penalties—including a fine of £175,720 for the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA)—just a day after Priestman, who is originally from England, was dismissed as Canada’s Olympic head coach.
In addition, CSA officials Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander have received one-year suspensions from Fifa.
Fifa stated that the CSA was found to be in “violation” of its ethical standards.
“The officials were deemed responsible for misconduct and breaching fair play principles related to the CSA women’s national team’s use of drones during the Olympic football tournament,” Fifa announced.
Priestman “voluntarily” stepped down from her coaching responsibilities for Canada’s first match against New Zealand after it was reported that a drone had been spotted flying over their training session on Monday.
Following this, both Fifa and the CSA initiated investigations, during which the CSA indicated that the 38-year-old was “highly likely” to have known about the situation.
More updates will be provided.
