The Canadian women’s Olympic football team have been docked six points and three coaches have been banned for a year over a drone spying scandal.
Two assistant coaches were caught flying a drone over their New Zealand opponents’ training session before their opening game on Wednesday.
FIFA has deducted six points from Canada and fined the country’s soccer federation 200,000 Swiss francs (£176,000), while English head coach Bev Priestman, Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander, have each been banned for a year.
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FIFA judges said 38-year-old Ms Priestman, who was hired to coach the Canadian team in 2020, and her two assistants “were each found responsible for offensive behaviour and violation of the principles of fair play”.
Canada coach Bev Priestman has been banned for a year. Pic: Reuters
The Canadian federation was held responsible for not ensuring its staff complied with tournament rules.
Canada, who won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, will not be automatically eliminated from the tournament because of the points deduction but the team will have to win all three games in their group.
Assistant Andy Spence will coach the team for the remainder of the Olympics.
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The coaches and the federation can challenge the sanctions at the Court of Arbitration’s special Olympic court in Paris and the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) said it is exploring rights of appeal.
The scandal erupted after the New Zealand team made a complaint on 22 July that a drone had been flown over a training session.
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Ms Priestman denied any knowledge of the incident but In a statement on Wednesday took responsibility for the actions of her colleagues.
But David Shoemaker, chief executive of the COC, said on Thursday that new information had come to its attention regarding previous drone use against opponents and Ms Priestman was “highly likely” to have been aware of the incidents.
He said he was comfortable with Canada’s women’s team remaining in Paris to defend the gold they won in Tokyo after calls for them to be disqualified completely.
“If more facts and circumstances emerge, we can continue to contemplate further action as necessary,” he added.