FIFA has docked six points from Canada in the Paris 2024 women’s football tournament and banned three coaches for one year each due to a drone-spying scandal.
The sweeping punishments include a fine of 200,000 Swiss francs ($226,000) for the Canadian football federation. The scandal erupted when two assistant coaches were caught using drones to spy on New Zealand’s practices before their opening game last Wednesday.
Canada Soccer and the Canadian Olympic Committee announced late Saturday that they were considering an appeal, specifically against the points deduction.
“We feel terrible for the athletes on the Canadian women’s Olympic soccer team who, as far as we understand, played no role in this matter,” David Shoemaker, the Olympic committee’s CEO and secretary general, said in a statement.
“In support of the athletes, together with Canada Soccer, we are exploring rights of appeal related to the six-point deduction at this Olympic tournament.”
Head coach Bev Priestman, who led Canada to Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021, had already been suspended by the national football federation and removed from the Olympic tournament. Canadian officials suspect the spying has been systemic over years.
Priestman and assistants Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander are now banned from all football activities for one year.
FIFA judges said Priestman and her two assistants “were each found responsible for offensive behaviour and violation of the principles of fair play.”
The case is likely to be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s special Olympic court in Paris, which is set up for urgent hearings and verdicts during the Olympics, such as this one involving the coaches and the Canadian federation challenging their sanctions.
If the points deduction is upheld by the CAS judges, it does not eliminate Canada from the tournament. However, the team would need to win all three games in Group A and hope to advance with three points to the quarterfinals, which start next Saturday, even as the third-place team in the standings.
Canada plays group leader France on Sunday in Saint-Etienne and then faces Colombia on Thursday in Nice.
Docking a team so many points in the middle of an international tournament is almost unprecedented.
“We are exploring options to appeal on the basis that it is excessively punitive towards our women’s national team players, who were not involved in any unethical behaviour,” said Kevin Blue, Canada Soccer’s CEO.
“Canada Soccer took swift action to suspend the implicated staff members and is also proceeding with a broad independent review that may lead to further disciplinary action.”
This case is another embarrassment for the Canadian federation, which is FIFA’s close partner in organizing the biggest-ever men’s World Cup in 2026 across North America. Toronto and Vancouver will host some of the 104 games in a tournament expanding to include 48 teams instead of 32. Games will also be played in 11 cities in the United States and three in Mexico.
In the compact 17-day women’s soccer tournament at the Olympics, FIFA fast-tracked its disciplinary process by asking its appeals judges to handle the Canadian case. The Canadian federation was held responsible for not ensuring its staff complied with tournament rules. There is no suggestion that the players were involved in the spying.
