Canada lose 6 pts, coach banned for drone use

MARSEILLE, France — Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman has been suspended from coaching for one year and the Canadian team has been penalized six points during these Olympics, FIFA announced Saturday, after investigating charges that Canada staff members used a drone to spy on an opponent’s closed practice session last week.

The penalties are significant. For the Canadian team, who is hoping to defend the gold medal it won at the last Olympics in Tokyo, a six-point penalty will make it very difficult to advance to the knockout rounds, while Priestman — who coached as an assistant under Phil Neville with England’s women’s national team before taking over Canada in 2020 — is prohibited from “taking part in any football-related activity” for 12 months.

The sanctions, which also included a fine to the Canadian federation of about $226,000, were for violating “the applicable FIFA regulations in connection with its failure to ensure the compliance … with the prohibition on flying drones over any training sites,” FIFA said in its announcement.

“The officials were each found responsible for offensive behavior and violation of the principles of fair play,” the statement continued.

Priestman’s two assistants implicated in the case, Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander, were also banned from all soccer for one year.

Priestman has not coached at these Olympics, after she stepped away from the team for its first match against New Zealand last week before Canada’s federation announced she would be suspended for the remainder of the tournament. She was then subsequently sent home from the Olympics by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC)

Canada Soccer has also announced an independent investigation into the incident, as well as several previous similar circumstances which might indicate a systemic pattern.

Canada next plays France on Sunday in Saint-Etienne and will need a win to stay alive in the tournament. Canada won its opening match but would need to win both of its remaining two group-stage matches to have any hope of still advancing to the quarterfinals as one of two third-place teams.

Andy Spence, who previously coached Everton’s women’s team and joined Priestman’s staff in 2022, has been coaching Canada in Priestman’s absence.