Canada Olympic soccer coach sent home over drone use as scandal widens [View all]

Story by Des Bieler • 7h • 4 min read

A growing scandal at the Paris Olympics over Canada Soccer’s use of drones to make unauthorized recordings of opponents’ practices took a major turn Thursday when the country’s Olympic committee removed women’s national team coach Bev Priestman.

Having arrived in France with the goal of winning a second straight gold medal as Canada’s coach, Priestman instead was suspended and could face further discipline. In a news release, the Canadian Olympic Committee said she would be replaced by assistant coach Andy Spence.

“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 Kevin Blue said in a statement. “In light of these new revelations, Canada Soccer has made the decision to suspend Women’s National Soccer Team Head Coach, Bev Priestman for the remainder of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and until the completion of our recently announced independent external review.”

The news release was issued shortly after the publication of a TSN story alleging that staffers and contractors for both the Canadian women’s and men’s national teams attempted to film training sessions of upcoming opponents for several years.

Earlier this week, Priestman sidelined herself for the women’s Olympic opener Thursday and two members of her staff were sent home after Canadian officials learned that drones were flown over two recent practices staged by New Zealand, Canada’s upcoming opponent. At the time, Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker said Priestman told officials “unequivocally” that she did not know recordings had been taken of the Football Ferns’ training sessions in Saint-Étienne, France, where Canada won Thursday’s game, 2-1

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