Canada’s women’s national team head coach Bev Priestman has been removed from the country’s Paris Olympic soccer team over a scandal involving the use of drones to spy on opponents’ practice, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) announced on Friday.
The COC said it made the decision after Canada Soccer decided to suspend Priestman for the remainder of the tournament. The episode began earlier this week when Canada’s opening opponent, New Zealand, complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after it said drones were flown over closed practice sessions.
“The Canadian Olympic Committee has removed the Canadian Women’s National Soccer Team Head Coach Bev Priestman from the Canadian Olympic Team due to her suspension by Canada Soccer,” the COC statement read. “Assistant coach Andy Spence will lead the Women’s National Soccer Team for the remainder of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”
The announcement followed a report from TSN that Canada’s women’s and men’s soccer teams have used drones to record opponents’ closed-door training sessions for several years, including during the women’s gold-medal winning Tokyo Olympic tournament in 2021.
“Over the past 24 hours, additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” Canada Soccer CEO and general secretary Kevin Blue said in a statement.
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