Canada boots coach from Olympics after new revelations from drone spy scandal
Canada’s women’s soccer team will be without their head coach for the remainder of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Bev Priestman has been sent home by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) as punishment for the team’s spying scandal. The decision follows a report from TSN’s Rick Westhead that revealed that Canada Soccer has been using drones to spy on opponents for multiple years.
“Over the past 24 hours, additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” reads the new statement from the COC.
“In light of these new revelations, Canada Soccer has made the decision to suspend Women’s National Team Head Coach, Bev Priestman, for the remainder of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and until the completion of our recently announced independent external review.”
Priestman had already voluntarily sat out the team’s opening game against New Zealand after two Canadian support staff members were sent home from the Paris 2024 Olympics for flying a drone to spy on a New Zealand practice.
Canada beat New Zealand in their opener today 2-1 without their head coach, who they will now be missing for the entire tournament.
Canada Soccer has allegedly had staff members and contractors fly drones over opponent’s practices for years now, per Westhead’s article. The practice was reportedly used by both the men’s and women’s teams to gain an unfair advantage.
Westhead revealed that certain staff were pressured into operating the drones, and their jobs were threatened if they did not comply. The espionage was used many times, including during the women’s gold medal run at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics and World Cup qualifying for both men and women, per the groundbreaking report.
This is not the first time that there have been questions raised by opposing teams about the presence of drones when facing Canada.
Honduras stopped a training session in Toronto ahead of a 2021 game against Canada that had implications for World Cup qualifying after spotting a drone overhead. Ex-men’s team head coach John Herdman denied any spying accusation, instead placing the blame on curious fans.
“I’d imagine there’s probably a lot of people in Canada that fly drones, I’m sure,” said Herdman back in 2021, per this AP News article. “And when a big team like Honduras turn up I’m sure people are probably interested in what they’re doing when they come into our country.”
“So I know for sure we won’t be heading into people’s countries too early because with drones these days, people can obviously capture footage. You’ve got to be really careful. So yeah, you got to be careful in CONCACAF. It’s a tricky place.”
TSN reports that it’s still unclear if players on either team were aware of the organization’s practices.
Canada plays their next game at the Olympics on Sunday, July 28, against France.
Follow Channels and Categories