Canada's women's football team has been hit with a six-point deduction in their Olympic group, and head coach Bev Priestman has received a one-year ban after using a drone to spy on a rival team's training.
FIFA announced these sanctions, which also include a £175,720 fine for the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), just a day after Priestman, originally from England, was dismissed as Canada's Olympic head coach. CSA officials Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander have also been suspended for a year.
According to FIFA, the drone's use was a violation of its principles. "The officials were found responsible for offensive behavior and breaching fair play principles related to the CSA Women’s team’s drone usage during the Olympic football tournament," said FIFA.
Priestman stepped down voluntarily from her coaching duties for Canada’s opening match against New Zealand after the New Zealand Olympic Committee reported a drone hovering over their training session. Both FIFA and the CSA launched investigations, concluding that Priestman was likely aware of the incident.
The CSA plans to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. CSA chief executive Kevin Blue and Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive David Shoemaker both mentioned that an appeal is being considered. "We are exploring options to appeal because the punishment is overly harsh on our Women’s National Team players, who were not involved in any unethical behavior," Blue said.
Shoemaker expressed regret for the athletes, saying, "We feel terrible for the players on the Canadian Women's Olympic Soccer Team who, as far as we know, had no part in this incident." Priestman, in her statement, accepted responsibility for her colleagues' actions after a scouting report filed by Lombardi was sent to Mander.
A French court sentenced Lombardi to an eight-month suspended jail term for flying a drone without a license in an urban area. Shoemaker later remarked that new information might tarnish Canada’s women's football victory at the Tokyo Games, following reports that drones had been used in earlier tournaments.
Assistant coach Andy Spence will now lead the team for the remainder of the Games. Canada won their opening match against New Zealand but now sits at minus three points in Group A due to FIFA’s sanctions, with upcoming matches against France and Colombia.
