Christine Sinclair weighs in on the Olympic drone scandal
Canadian soccer icon Christine Sinclair chose to weigh in on the Olympic drone scandal that seems to have everybody talking.
The Canadian women’s national soccer team was put in an embarrassing situation ahead of their first game at the Paris 2024 Olympics, as an individual affiliated with the team was caught spying on a New Zealand practice with a drone.
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) issued an apology a short time later, but the damage was already done. In fact, it has gotten even worse, as TSN’s Rick Westhead reported that Canada Soccer has been using drones to spy on opponents for multiple years.
As a result of this news, Canadian women’s coach Bev Priestman has been sent home by the COC, as were two support staff members.
Despite how bad the situation looks, Sinclair, who was a longtime member of the Canadian national team, wanted to make clear in a lengthy statement that people shouldn’t fault the players for this scandal.
“Having contested over 300 international matches, including four Olympic Games, there was no greater honour than wearing the maple leaf and representing Canada on the world stage,” Sinclair said.
“As players, we train endlessly our whole lives for those moments. Together, we take pride in letting our play speak for itself. We battle within the touchlines with integrity, and try to meet each result with grace — win, lose, or draw. It’s unfortunate that the players of our national team have had to play through condemnable actions by some of their staff as they attempt to defend our gold medal. Actions players have no control over.
“I want to be clear that having been a national team player for 23 years, we were never shown drone footage in team or individual meetings I’ve been present for. With one win already under their belts, I cannot wait to see what these players can continue to achieve in this tournament together, and I will continue to support the players along the way. I hope all Canadians will join me in doing so.”
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The Canadians were able to defeat New Zealand by a 2-1 final yesterday. While it was a good start for them, they will unfortunately continue to have a black cloud hanging above them given this scandal. They’ll look to move past it, however, and continue their winning ways on Sunday in a game against France.
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