Suspended soccer coach Bev Priestman likely aware of spying, Canadian Olympic Committee CEO says
David Shoemaker acknowledges drone scandal impacted defending champs' image to start tourney
Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive officer David Shoemaker says the head coach of the national women's soccer team was likely aware drones were used to spy on another team's practices in France.
Shoemaker made the comments hours after Bev Priestman was suspended from the Olympic Games early Friday morning.
"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 at a news conference at Canada Olympic House.
"I've seen some of them, some of the information they have, and 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 St-Etienne."
Two staff members were kicked off the soccer team Wednesday following reports a drone was used to spy on New Zealand practices Monday and last Friday.
Priestman voluntarily removed herself from Canada's 2-1 win over New Zealand in St-Etienne to open the Olympic tournament Thursday.
She'd said the previous day she didn't direct individuals to spy on New Zealand and was "highly disappointed" to learn of it.
WATCH | Canadian Olympic Committee supports Priestman suspension:
Shoemaker said Wednesday he was persuaded Priestman had "no involvement, no knowledge of the incident," but his opinion later changed.
The decision to kick Priestman out of the Games was made at the recommendation of Canada Soccer's CEO Kevin Blue, who said more information had recently come to light about previous incidents of drone spying predating the Olympic Games in Paris. Blue has pledged an independent review of the situation.
"The most important piece of information that I learned was that, in the interim 24 hours that the CEO of Canada Soccer had been on the ground in St- Etienne, he came to the conclusion that Bev Priestman needed to be suspended. We have seen some of that information. We fully support that it's the right decision under the circumstances."
Canada's second game is against host France on Sunday in St-Etienne. Blue said the federation met with the players Friday morning.
Shoemaker said he's comfortable with the defending women's soccer champions continuing to compete in the Games.
But FIFA's disciplinary committee is looking into the matter, and the gold medal Canada won on penalty kicks against Sweden in Tokyo is now under scrutiny. Priestman was Canada's head coach there, too.
"There now appears to be information that could tarnish that Olympic performance in Tokyo," Shoemaker said.
"It makes me ill. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that there could be something that calls into question, one of my favourite Olympic moments in history, that women's team winning that gold medal against all odds in COVID restrictions."
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Shoemaker acknowledged the scandal impacted Canada's image to start the Summer Games in Paris, but hoped it wouldn't detract from what is expected to be a strong performance by the team as a whole.
"Subsequent findings involving individuals at Canada Soccer have been not only incredibly disturbing, but also all encompassing for us these last few days," said COC president and Olympic rower Tricia Smith at the news conference.
My heart goes out to you.— Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue to members of the women's Olympic team
"What we saw this week is not my experience of sport in Canada. It's not who we are."
Priestman's future with the team is "pending the outcome of our review of this matter entirely," according to Blue.
He added instead of celebrating the Olympic Games, what's being discussed is unacceptable shortcomings on ethics with some representatives affecting the country.
"My heart goes out to you," was his message to players with the Canadian women's team.
WATCH | Blue aware of "attempted drone usage" during recent Copa America:
"The players themselves have not been involved in any unethical behaviour," Blue said, adding Canada Soccer has asked the International Olympic Committee and FIFA to take that into consideration as they weigh possible sanctions.
Blue also said there was an incident involving the men's national team at Copa America. He said it was his understanding it did not have an impact on the competitive integrity of the match but would not offer details. Asked whether men's head coach Jesse Marsch was aware of possible drone usage at that tournament in the United States, Blue said he was aware after the fact.
On Friday night, CONCACAF also confirmed that there was a complaint against the Canadian women's team at the 2022 Concacaf W Championship, alleging Canada had used a drone to watch a rival country's training session, but that nothing came of it.
The federation in question, believed to be Panama, made the allegation after seeing a drone at training that did not belong to them.
"They suspected it was Canada," said a CONCACAF spokesman.
Canada Soccer denied any involvement when contacted by CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America as well as the Caribbean.
The Canadian women beat Panama 1-0 in group play — on July 8, 2022 — and eventually finished runner-up to the U.S. at the eight-team tournament, which served as a World Cup qualifier.
Canada, which lost 1-0 in the final in Monterrey, won the tournament's Fair Play Award.
Canadian legend Christine Sinclair, a member of the national team from 2000 to 2023, posted a statement Friday on Instagram saying, "we were never shown or discussed drone footage in team or individual meetings I've been present for."
"It's unfortunate that the players of our National Team have had to play through condemnable actions by some of their staff as they attempt to defend our gold medal. Actions players have no control over," Sinclair said.
Former Canadian national team head coach John Herdman addressed the scandal during a press conference on Friday, saying he is "highly confident" that his teams were never involved in any spying at an Olympic or World Cup tournament.
Herdman, who now coaches Toronto FC, led the women's team from 2011 to 2018 before his five-year tenure as the men's head coach.
WATCH | Herdman 'highly confident' teams weren't involved in spying on his watch:
Former soccer star and Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba weighed in on the controversy ahead of the Olympic opening ceremony. He said spying isn't uncommon in soccer and ultimately doesn't affect the end result.
"They just caught them. That's it. You know, it's part of the game," Drogba told CBC Sports' Ariel Helwani.
"You know, it doesn't really effect the result of the game..."<a href="https://twitter.com/didierdrogba?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@didierdrogba</a> gives his take on the controversy around Canada Soccer and the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CanWNT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CanWNT</a> at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Paris2024?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Paris2024</a> <a href="https://t.co/vz7g92CNOu">pic.twitter.com/vz7g92CNOu</a>
—@CBCOlympicsSoccer's misconduct overshadowed both the COC's announcement Wednesday of flag-bearers Maude Charron and Andre De Grasse for the opening ceremony, and also Friday's ribbon-cutting to open Canada Olympic House in Paris.
"It's sad. It's surprising," Olympic weightlifting champion Charron said Friday. "In my sport, we're doing a lot of work to stay true and play fair. Every sport has different technique to do or different 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."
WATCH | Canadian Olympic Committee discusses punishment of soccer head coach:
With files from Gemma Karstens-Smith, Neil Davidson, CP, CBC Sports & The Associated Press
