Drone-spying scandal: FIFA strips Canada of 6 points in Olympic women's football, bans coaches 1 year

Canada coach Bev Priestman [REUTERS/YONHAP]

FIFA deducted six points from Canada in the Paris Olympics women’s football tournament and banned three coaches for one year each on Saturday in a drone-spying scandal.

The stunning swath of punishments include a 200,000 Swiss francs ($226,000) fine for the Canadian football federation in a case that has spiraled at the Summer Games. Two assistant coaches were caught using drones to spy on opponent New Zealand’s practices before their opening game last Wednesday.

Head coach Bev Priestman, who led Canada to the Olympic title in Tokyo in 2021, already was suspended by the national football federation then removed from the Olympic tournament.

Priestman and her two assistants implicated in the case, Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander, are now banned from all football for one year.

FIFA fast-tracked its own disciplinary process by asking its appeals judges to handle the case.

FIFA judges found Priestman and her two assistants “were each found responsible for offensive behavior and violation of the principles of fair play.”

The Canadian federation was held responsible for not ensuring its staff complied with tournament rules.

The coaches and the Canadian federation now can challenge their sanctions at the Court of Arbitration for Sport's special Olympic court in Paris. That tribunal is set up for urgent hearings and verdicts at the Olympics.

The 38-year-old Priestman is from England and was hired in 2020 to coach the Canada team. She is under contract through the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

She had stepped aside from the defending champion’s Olympic opener against New Zealand on Wednesday after the scandal was revealed. Canadian officials suspect the spying has been systemic over years.

Her two staffers were sent home for allegedly using a drone to spy on New Zealand in training. Canada won the game 2-1 with interim coach Andy Spence in charge.

The points deduction, if upheld by the CAS judges, does not eliminate Canada from the tournament. It could mean the team must win all three games in Group A and hope to advance with three points, likely as runner-up in the standings.

Canada plays group leader France on Sunday in Saint-Etienne, then faces Colombia on Thursday in Nice.

AP