The Canadian Olympic Committee on Thursday fired Bev Priestman as coach of the Paris Olympics women's national soccer team amid shocking allegations that she used drone surveillance to spy on opposing teams.
Before Priestman was suspended from the tournament by the Canada Soccer Association, two of his staff members — assistant Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi — were also ordered to return home. The move comes as a major blow after Canadian website TSN reported that the Canadian men's and women's teams had been using drones to spy on opponents for years.
Cash medallist Canada beat New Zealand 2-1 in their Olympic opener on Thursday, a game in which Priestman, Mander and Lombardi did not coach.
“The Canadian Olympic Committee has removed Canada Women's National Soccer Team Head Coach Bev Priestman from the Canadian Olympic Team due to a suspension by the Canada Soccer Association,” a statement from the committee said. “Assistant coach Andy Spence will lead the Women's National Soccer Team for the remainder of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”
Here's what you need to know about the drone allegations.
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Canadian drone surveillance makes an appearance at the Olympics
According to TSN, Lombardi was arrested by French police while retrieving a drone that had been flying over New Zealand's national team training facility. French police investigated and found videos of New Zealand's training sessions, as well as text messages between Lombardi and Mander that indicated Mander was aware of Lombardi's activities.
Canada Olympics drone timeline, survey
It's unclear when the surveillance began, but TSN reported it dates back to before a game against the United States on Nov. 15, 2019, which the U.S. won 4-1.
The report, released Thursday, said the spying has been consistent since then, with instances in 2021, 2022 and 2023. That included the run-up to a 2021 CONCACAF men's team match with Honduras, when Honduras halted a training session in Toronto after noticing drones flying overhead, the report said.
“I suspect there are a lot of people in Canada who fly drones,” John Herdman, then coach of the Canadian men's national team, said at the time.
“When you have a big team like Honduras coming, people are going to be interested to see what they're going to do when they come to our country,” Hardman continued, “so we definitely wouldn't be heading there too early because obviously with drones these days you can get footage. You have to be really careful.”
Current men's national team coach Jesse Marsh was not involved in the report.
What Bev Priestman said about the Canadian drone scandal
It was not immediately clear how much Priestman knew about the scandal.
FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association launched an investigation into the spying allegations on Wednesday, and the Canadian Soccer Association plans to make public the results of its investigation.
“I am ultimately responsible for the actions taken within our program,” Priestman said in a statement on Thursday announcing his decision to voluntarily step aside as coach for the New Zealand game ahead of the COC's decision. “I do this in a spirit of responsibility, with the interests of both teams in mind and to ensure that everyone feels that the sportsmanship of the game is upheld.”
When will Canada next play?
Canada's next match will be against France on Sunday, July 28. Canada and France are both 1-0 in Group A.
