Canada has appealed against a six-point deduction imposed by FIFA on the women’s Olympic soccer team after an employee flew a drone over New Zealand’s training sessions ahead of the start of the Paris Olympics.
The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Soccer filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday, arguing that it “unfairly punishes athletes for actions they had no part in and goes far beyond restoring fairness to the match against New Zealand.” A hearing is expected to take place on Tuesday, with a final decision expected on Wednesday afternoon, CAS said in a news release. Canada plays Colombia in the final group stage match in Nice on Wednesday at 9 p.m. (3 p.m. ET).
Canada defeated New Zealand and France in their first two games, but now sit third in Group A with zero points because of the deduction. Canada could still advance from the group stage with a win over Colombia, but a return to six points would put the Canadians atop Group A going into the final game.
In addition to deducting six points from the team’s Olympic group stage total (the equivalent of two wins), FIFA suspended Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman and two other staff members for a year and fined them Saturday. Canada did not appeal the suspensions.
The drone spying first came to light on July 22, when staff from the New Zealand team spotted a drone flying over their practice in Saint-Étienne, France, and alerted police. Law enforcement traced the drone back to its operator, Joseph Lombardi, an analyst with the Canadian women’s team, the COC said.
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The Canadian Olympic Committee reported Wednesday that a separate drone incident came to light during training in New Zealand on July 19.
FIFA’s decision concerned only Canada Soccer’s actions during the Olympic Games. The international governing body found that Canada Soccer “was responsible for failing to comply with applicable FIFA regulations in connection with the failure to ensure compliance by participating officials of the OFT with the prohibition on flying drones over training sites.” Priestman, Lombardi and assistant coach Jasmine Mander were all “found responsible for offensive conduct and breaches of the principles of fair play.”
Before Priestman’s suspension by FIFA, she was suspended through the Olympics and until the conclusion of a wide-ranging Canada Soccer investigation covering both the men’s and women’s programs. She pledged to fully cooperate with that investigation in a statement Sunday, when she apologized to the Canadian players.
Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue said that based on what he had learned so far, he was concerned there was “a potential long-term, deep-rooted systemic culture” of policing other teams.
Blue said he was aware of an attempt to use a drone during the Copa America, but clarified that current men’s national team coach Jesse Marsch only learned of its use after the fact.
On Sunday, Canadian Sports Minister Carla Qualtrough said the government was “withholding funding for the suspended Canada Soccer officials for the duration of their FIFA suspension.”
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(Photo: Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images)
