The departure of the Canada women’s national team head coach, Bev Priestman, has been confirmed by Canada Soccer, following an independent review into the drone spying scandal that rocked the team’s Olympics campaign.
The Englishwoman Priestman was removed from the Olympic Games in Paris and received a one-year ban from football by the world’s governing body Fifa in July, after a drone was allegedly used to spy on a training session of one of their opponents, New Zealand. The analyst Joseph Lombardi and the Canada assistant coach Jasmine Mander were also banned after the allegations, and on Tuesday a statement from Canada Soccer said: “The three individuals currently suspended by Fifa will not be returning. The search for a new head coach for the women’s national team will commence shortly.”
On 8 November, when giving their initial reaction to an independent review into the scandal, Canada Soccer said the matter was symptomatic of a “past pattern of an unacceptable culture” and on Tuesday, the organisation provided its full response, with damning detail.
Among the summary findings, it was found that two of the coaches had “directed acts of improper surveillance predating the 2024 Paris Olympics”, but the review found “no evidence” of spying by Canada staff at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where they won a historic gold medal. Although the review felt that the absence of such from Tokyo was merely “likely due to the highly restrictive nature of the lockdowns related to Covid-19”.
However, the report makes clear that no Canada players watched any drone footage. Additionally, the reviewers found that “some assistant coaches and staff members felt uncomfortable with the spying” but that they “did not feel they could challenge the authority of the head coach”.
It was also found that neither the chief executive of Canada Soccer, Kevin Blue, nor the president and board chair, Peter Augruso, had been aware of the use of drones for surveillance of opponents. Blue and Augruso wrote in a joint statement: “Quite simply, while players on the national teams performed admirably, cultural standards and management of the programs dating back several years fell short of expectations.
“With this investigation now concluded, we are in the process of taking disciplinary steps. These actions will be private. Moving forward, we will continue to examine the organisation for the cultural and ethical patterns that gave rise to this incident. We will take additional measures should we find more evidence of them.”
