FIFA punishes Canada for cheating with drones at Olympics

Canadian women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman has been suspended from coaching for one year and the Canadian team has been penalized six points during these Olympic Games, FIFA announced Saturday.

After investigating allegations that Canada staff members used a drone to spy on an opponent’s closed practice session last week.

The surprise series of punishments includes a $226,000 fine for the Canadian Soccer Federation in a scandal that erupted during the Games. Two assistants were caught spying on New Zealand’s training session on Wednesday, their opponent in the tournament’s opening game, with drones.

Priestman and his two assistants implicated in the case, Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander, were banned from all football activities for one year.

FIFA accelerated the disciplinary process by asking its appeal judges to take over the case.

Judges from world football’s governing body found Priestman and two of his assistants “each responsible for offensive behaviour and breaching the principles of fair play.”

Priestman and the Canadian federation could appeal the ban to the special Olympic panel in Paris at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Canada Soccer has also announced an independent investigation into the incident, as well as several previous similar circumstances that could indicate a systemic pattern.

Canada will play France on Sunday in Saint-Etienne and will need a win to stay alive in the tournament. Canada won its opening match, but would need to win its two remaining group stage matches to have any hope of advancing to the quarterfinals as one of the two third-place teams.

Andy Spence, who previously coached Everton’s women’s team and joined Priestman’s staff in 2022, has been coaching Canada in Priestman’s absence.

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