Olympic women’s soccer champions Canada were deducted six points and head coach Bev Priestman was suspended for a year after the team admitted to spying on opponents using a drone.
The penalty imposed by FIFA followed an investigation into the team after their opening opponents New Zealand reported that a drone had flown over their training session ahead of Paris 2024.
The Canadian Olympic Committee said it had been informed of the incident and made the decision to send Priestman home on Friday, as well as Canadian officials Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander, who were also banned for a year.
FIFA, which accelerated its investigation, concluded that Priestman and her two assistants “were each found responsible for offensive conduct and violation of the principles of fair play.”
Although the coaches and the Canadian Federation can appeal the penalty, the point deduction does not exclude the defending champions from the women’s soccer tournament.
Canada beat New Zealand 2-1 in its opening match, which took place after the team was caught using drones. To have any chance of advancing from Group A with three points, the team must beat France on Sunday and Colombia on Thursday.
Priestman, who is English and led Canada to gold in Tokyo three years ago, resigned from her duties before being sent home along with two of her staff.
Priestman apologized again to New Zealand in a further statement, saying: “This does not represent the values our team stands for.”
“I am ultimately responsible for our behavior […]To underscore our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily step down from coaching for Thursday’s game.”
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