The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris haven’t even had an opening ceremony yet, and we’re already dealing with a potential cheating scandal.
According to a report from New Zealand media, the New Zealand women’s national soccer team caught Canada using a drone to spy on the squad’s Monday practice session in Saint-Etienne — the site of Thursday’s Group A match between the two sides.
French police have been stationed at the various practice facilities to be on the look out for drones during team sessions and spotted the drone during the Football Ferns’ session. With this Canada-New Zealand incident, a member of the Team Canada support staff was detained by police.
New Zealand women’s soccer team claim they were spied on at a training session on Monday in St. Étienne by Canada Soccer via drone surveillance.
They have made an official complaint to the IOC.
Canada plays New Zeland Thursday morning 11 ET. #Paris2024https://t.co/m4VSkbwCPG— Shireen Ahmed (@_shireenahmed_) July 23, 2024
New Zealand made a formal complaint to the IOC integrity unit. And Canada didn’t deny the accusation, blaming a “non-accredited” staffer for going rogue with the drone. The Canadian Olympic Committee also issued an apology in its statement.
A statement from the Canadian Olympic Committee. #Olympics #CanWNT pic.twitter.com/uCnfy8ULJ1
— Har Journalist (@HarJournalist) July 23, 2024
Canada — the No. 8 ranked team by FIFA — would have been considered heavy favorites against 28th-ranked New Zealand. But we’ll have to see what sanctions — if any — are taken against Canada as group play opens.
Update: The Canada Olympic Committee reviewed the incident and uncovered that another drone was used to spy on New Zealand’s July 19 practice session.
Team Canada sent home two staff members, and Canada women’s soccer head coach Bev Priestman will sit out Thursday’s match. She issued a statement:
“On behalf of our entire team, I first and foremost want to apologize to the players and staff at New Zealand Football and to the players on Team Canada. This does not represent the values that our team stands for,” Priestman said. “I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program. Accordingly, to emphasize our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily withdraw from coaching the match on Thursday. In the spirit of accountability, I do this with the interests of both teams in mind and to ensure everyone feels that the sportsmanship of this game is upheld.”
Update: According to a new report from TSN’s Rick Westhead, Canada’s men’s and women’s soccer teams have been using drones to spy on opposing programs for years, including during the women’s gold medal run at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Canada’s men’s and women’s soccer teams have relied on drones and spying for years, sources say
Coaching staff and contractors working with Canada’s men’s and women’s national soccer teams have been engaged for years in efforts to film the closed-door training sessions of their… pic.twitter.com/GuwijxTMNm
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) July 25, 2024
As the fallout from the New Zealand drone saga continues, Canada’s women’s head coach Beverly Priestman has also been suspended from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Canada WNT Head Coach Bev Priestman has been sent home from the 2024 Olympics, COC announced 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/jkXURVrtqT
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 25, 2024
If this new report is anything to go by, it’s clear Canadian soccer is set to face even more ramifications, especially if their gold medal in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics is in doubt.
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