FIFA deducted six points from Canada in the Paris Olympics women’s football tournament and banned three coaches for one year each in a drone spying scandal.
The stunning swath of punishments, announced late on Saturday, includes a 200,000-Swiss-franc ($226,000) fine for the Canadian football federation in a case that has spiralled at the Summer Games.
Two assistant coaches were caught using drones to spy on opponent New Zealand’s practices before their opening game on
Wednesday.
The penalties are significant. For the Canadian team, which 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 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.
FIFA fast-tracked its own disciplinary process by asking its appeals judges to handle the case.
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 that 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.
The judges found Priestman and her two assistants “were each found responsible for offensive behaviour and violation of the principles of fair play.”
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