Canada’s women’s national team coach, Bev Priestman, has been suspended by the program and subsequently sent home from the Paris Olympics by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC). This decision follows a scandal involving the use of drones to spy on opponents just days into the team’s defense of its gold medal.
Priestman voluntarily removed herself from the team’s Olympic opener, a 2-1 victory over New Zealand, after it was discovered that two staff members had used a drone to monitor New Zealand’s training sessions in the lead-up to the match.
On Thursday, Rick Westhead of TSN reported that, according to sources with “first-hand knowledge,” the use of drones for spying on opposing teams has been a practice for both the Canadian men’s and women’s teams for “years,” including during the women’s gold-medal performance at the Tokyo 2021 Games.
Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue confirmed the suspension of Priestman until the completion of an independent external review, stating, “Over the past 24 hours, additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”
Assistant coach Andy Spence, who managed Canada’s win against New Zealand, will lead the team for the remainder of the Paris Games.
