Canadian Soccer Head Coach Fired After Spying on Opponents with Drone at Paris Olympics

The head coach of the Canadian women’s national soccer team was dismissed after being caught spying on the opposing team’s training sessions with a drone during the 2024 Paris Olympics.

According to AP News, the Canadian Soccer Association announced on Wednesday that it had removed Bev Priestman as head coach of the women’s national team.

The Canadian Soccer Association decided to terminate her after reviewing a report from an independent investigation committee that had been examining the drone spying incident that took place at the Paris Olympics, which concluded in August.

Before an Olympic match, the New Zealand national team reported a suspicious drone flying over their training facility to the police.

Police investigations revealed that the drone operator was a Canadian team’s support staff member just before their match against New Zealand. In response, FIFA swiftly imposed one-year suspensions on Priestman, assistant coach Jasmine Mander, and performance analyst Joseph Lombardi.

The investigation committee found no evidence that Canadian players had viewed the drone footage. However, it found that assistant coaches and other support staff did not feel they could challenge the head coach’s authority.

The committee continued, “The findings of the independent investigator reveal that the drone incident in Paris was a symptom of a past pattern of an unacceptable culture and insufficient oversight within the national teams.”

The committee also confirmed that Priestman did not use drones when leading the team to a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In addition, they investigated allegations that the Canadian men’s national team used drones to spy on opponents’ training at the Copa America but concluded that there was no evidence to support this.

The Canadian Soccer Association officially dismissed Priestman following the results of this investigation, during which she had been suspended but still received a salary.

However, a separate investigation was launched into former men’s national team coach John Herdman for potential violations of the code of ethics, and a decision will be made regarding any possible disciplinary action.

Herdman was the women’s national team head coach from 2011 to 2018, then managed the men’s national team before stepping down last year to take charge of Toronto FC.

Meanwhile, the Canadian women’s national team competed at the Paris Olympics under interim head coach Andy Spence and was eliminated in the quarterfinals.