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Paris Olympics: Canadian women’s soccer team stripped of six points for spying scandal; three coaches suspended

Posted on by Vaseline


The Canadian women’s national soccer team in action (Photo:IANS)

Canada’s women’s soccer team has been given a six-point deduction from the Paris Olympics and three members of its coaching staff were each suspended for a year on Saturday over a drone spying scandal, after they were caught using drones to spy on opponents New Zealand’s training sessions ahead of their opening match on Wednesday.

“Following the disciplinary proceedings opened against the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) and its officials Beverly Priestman, Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander, the Chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided to refer the matter directly to the FIFA Appeals Committee in accordance with Article 56.3 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC),” FIFA said in a statement on Saturday.

“This decision has been taken due to the possibility that the outcome of the proceedings may affect the development of the ongoing Women’s Olympic Football Tournament – ​​Final of the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad Paris 2024 (OFT) and with the aim of protecting the rights of the respondents,” it added.

FIFA ruled that the Canadian Soccer Federation (CSA) had “violated Article 13 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and Article 6.1 of the XXXIIIrd Final of the Paris 2024 Olympiad (OFT)”. This led to the federation imposing the penalty they deemed appropriate.

“CSA: Automatic deduction of six points from the position of the Canadian Soccer Federation women’s representative team in Group A of the OFT, and a fine of CHF 200,000, and Beverly Priestman, Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander: Each official will be suspended from participating in any soccer-related activity for a period of one year.”

Despite the scandal, Canada won their opening match against New Zealand 2-1, meaning they are now on -3 points and last in Group A. Despite the points deduction, Canada still has a slim chance of qualifying and will face France in their second group match on Monday (IST).

“CSA was found responsible for failing to comply with applicable FIFA regulations in relation to its failure to ensure compliance by its participating OFT officials with the ban on flying drones over training sites,” it concluded.