Canada loses appeal of 6-point deduction for spying at Olympics
Canada's appeal against the six-point deduction imposed on the women's soccer team as a result of the drone spying scandal at the Paris Olympics was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Wednesday.
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Canada Soccer sought to have the penalty either reduced or overturned entirely, claiming it "unfairly punishes the athletes for actions they had no part in."
With the deduction upheld, Canada, the reigning gold medalist in women's soccer, must now beat Colombia in its final group match at 3 p.m. ET today to advance to the knockout stage of the competition. The Canadians will be eliminated from quarterfinal contention with anything other than a victory.
Canada, which has won its opening two matches in France, could still finish atop Group A despite the penalty.
Group A standings
| Team | Goal difference | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Colombia | +1 | 3 |
| 2. France | 0 | 3 |
| 3. Canada* | +2 | 0 |
| 4. New Zealand | -3 | 0 |
"While disappointed in the outcome of our appeal, we commend the players for their incredible resilience and grit over the course of this tournament, and look forward to cheering them on in today's match against Colombia," the COC said in a statement Wednesday.
The CAS said grounds for its decision to reject the appeal would be published at a later date.
The spying scandal exploded last week when a team analyst, Joseph Lombardi, was caught using a drone to film one of New Zealand's closed training sessions ahead of Canada's opening match of the Olympic tournament. Lombardi and assistant Jasmine Mander were subsequently sent home from the Paris Games, while head coach Bev Priestman voluntarily removed herself from the match, which Canada won 2-1.
Various reports then emerged citing sources who explained that spying on opponents was a consistent tactic by the Canadian national team. Both the men's and women's programs were reportedly using drones to gain intel for several years across multiple competitions, including at the Tokyo Games.
Canadian officials described the practice as a "systemic ethical shortcoming."
"We're not cheaters," defender Vanessa Gilles said after her dramatic last-second goal against France on Sunday kept Canada's title defense alive.
Priestman, who said she was "heartbroken" for the players and has since apologized for the humiliating debacle, was sent home by the COC and suspended for one year by FIFA. Soccer's governing body levied the same punishment on Lombardi and Mander in addition to a hefty fine and, most notably, the points deduction.
Canada's appeal only applied to the points penalty.
Canada Soccer provided FIFA's disciplinary committee with Priestman's emails pertaining to spying when the governing body was considering sanctions against the women's team, reports Rick Westhead of TSN.
In one such email on March 20 of this year, Priestman reportedly reached out to an external human resources consultant in response to an analyst telling her they were unwilling to continue spying on other teams.
"It's something the analyst has always done and I know there is a whole operation on the men's side with regards to it," Priestman wrote.
Canada Soccer reportedly told FIFA that the spying program began with John Herdman, who coached the women's team from 2011 to 2018. Priestman was a member of his staff, first as a technical assistant and then an assistant coach, for part of that spell.
"We suspect that the practice of using a drone stems back to John Herdman when he was the head coach of the women's national team," Canada Soccer reportedly wrote to FIFA on July 27. "In other words, this was a practice started by one person - John Herdman - and continued by Bev Priestman. It was not facilitated by the federation."
Herdman, now the head coach of Major League Soccer club Toronto FC, said during a press conference on July 26 that he was "highly confident" his teams never engaged in spying at World Cups or the Olympics.