The governing body of world football, FIFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against Canada Soccer, its head coach Bev Priestman, and two other team members. Assistant coach Jasmine Mander and unaccredited analyst Joseph Lombardi who have already been sent home pending the investigation.
The Canadian Olympic Committee believes drones were used to record training sessions of the New Zealand women’s team, who were Canada’s Olympic rivals on two separate instances of football ferns training sessions.
Bev Priestman have since been suspended following allegations of spying on their rivals New Zealand. Andy Spence took charge of the defending Olympic champions clash yesterday against New Zealand.
FIFA has confirmed disciplinary proceedings against Priestman, along with assistant coach Jasmine Mander and unaccredited analyst Joseph Lombardi.
The governing body stated that the Canadian team potentially violated rules against spying by using a drone to record the New Zealand women’s football team during training. This incident led to disciplinary proceedings against Canada Soccer, its head coach, and two staff members.
“The matter will be submitted for the consideration of the disciplinary committee in the next days”, FIFA announced.
Canada Soccer president Peter Augruso and CEO/general secretary Kevin Blue also expressed their ‘unequivocal disapproval’ in a joint statement announcing that their organization would be conducting its own independent investigation.
“On behalf of our federation, we offer our sincere apologies to the impacted players, coaches, and officials”, they said in a statement.
“Canada Soccer has always sought to prioritize integrity and fair competition, and we understand that competing with honesty is a baseline expectation for all Canadians. We failed to meet those expectations in this case, and for that, we apologize”.
“As an immediate next step, Canada Soccer will proceed with an independent external review. This review will address the circumstances of the current matter, and more broadly, will seek to understand the historical culture of competitive ethics within all of our programs”.
“The outcome of this review will be shared publicly and corrective actions, if necessary, will be taken. We will maintain prompt and transparent communication on this matter”, as culled from Dailymail UK.
The COC confirmed that a non-accredited member of the Canadian soccer team was detained by French authorities in St. Etienne on July 22nd following a complaint by New Zealand Football. This individual is suspected of using a drone to record the New Zealand women’s football team during training.
Furthermore, the COC disclosed a second drone incident on July 19th, indicating a pattern of inappropriate behavior.