Canada Soccer’s chief executive officer, Kevin Blue, announced an investigation into potential “systemic ethical shortcomings” within the program following a drone spying scandal but confirmed that the women’s soccer team would still compete in the Paris Olympics.
Blue addressed the media via a 30-minute video call on Friday, hours after the federation suspended head coach Bev Priestman from the Games. This decision followed reports of two Canadian staff members using a drone to spy on New Zealand’s practices before their tournament opener, where Canada defeated New Zealand 2-1 on Thursday.
Blue stated that withdrawing the team from the Olympics was not considered because “we feel like we have addressed the situation swiftly and significantly.” He emphasized that penalizing the players, who have not engaged in unethical behavior, would be unfair. “I will not consider us withdrawing on the basis of the fact that we support our players as Olympians and their right to be here and their right to compete,” Blue said.
Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker suggested that Priestman was likely aware of the drone spying activities in France. “One of the key pieces of information was the conclusion from Canada Soccer that she needed to be suspended, based on their accumulation of facts,” Shoemaker said during a news conference in Paris. “We’ve gathered some additional information ourselves that made me conclude that she was highly likely to have been aware of the incident here in Saint-Etienne.”
Priestman had voluntarily stepped away from the opening game, expressing her disappointment and denying any involvement in directing individuals to spy on New Zealand. Initially, Shoemaker believed Priestman had no knowledge of the incident, but his stance changed with new information.
Blue, who recommended Priestman’s suspension, announced an independent review of the situation, revealing that new details about previous incidents of drone spying had emerged. Shoemaker backed Blue’s decision, stating, “We imposed the ultimate sanction the Canadian Olympic Committee can impose, bearing in mind that we oversee soccer players and the staff for this limited window with the Olympic Games, in removing them from the Olympic team, including the head coach, and sending them home.”
Canada’s next game is against host France on Sunday in St-Etienne. Despite the controversy, Shoemaker expressed confidence in the team’s continued participation in the Games. However, FIFA’s disciplinary committee is investigating, and Canada’s gold medal from the Tokyo Olympics, where Priestman was also head coach, is now under scrutiny. Shoemaker lamented that the new information could tarnish that historic win.
The scandal has impacted Canada’s image at the start of the Summer Games in Paris. COC president Tricia Smith called the findings “incredibly disturbing” and emphasized that such behavior does not represent Canadian sports. The scandal overshadowed the announcement of flag-bearers Maude Charron and Andre De Grasse for the opening ceremonies and the opening of Canada Olympic House.
“It’s sad. It’s surprising,” said Charron, who won a weightlifting gold medal in Tokyo. “In my sport, we’re doing a lot of work to stay true and play fair. Every sport has different techniques or strategies. My job here as an athlete stays the same. I guess it stresses more a bit the athletes in soccer. But I can’t talk for them. I can only talk for me.”
