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(Bloomberg) — The Canadian government suspended some funding for Canada Soccer and accused the women’s team at the Olympics of cheating after staff members allegedly used a drone to spy on their opponents.
“This issue has caused significant distraction and embarrassment for Team Canada and all Canadians here in Paris and at home,” Sport and Physical Activity Minister Carla Qualtrough said in a statement on Sunday. “It is deeply regrettable.”
FIFA, soccer’s governing body, deducted six points from Canada’s women at the Paris Games after the allegations surfaced and banned three staff members, including coach Beverly Priestman. The government will withhold funding related to the suspended officials “for the duration of their FIFA sanction,” Qualtrough said.
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Two Canadian team staffers were caught using drones to monitor New Zealand’s practice sessions before the women’s Olympic tournament’s opener on Thursday, which Canada won.
Using a drone to watch another team’s closed practice “is cheating” and undermines the game’s integrity, Qualtrough said.
Canada’s women, the defending Olympic soccer champion, are facing France later Sunday. The points penalty means they’ll be eliminated if they lose, leaving Canada without an Olympic medal in women’s soccer for the first time since 2008.
Canadian Olympic Committee Chief Executive Officer David Shoemaker said in a statement his team would appeal FIFA’s penalty decision, calling it “excessively punitive.”
Canadian soccer officials took “swift action” to suspend the implicated staffers and will move forward on an independent review that could lead to further disciplinary action.
Former Canadian player and Olympic bronze medal winner Kaylyn Kyle weighed in on Saturday in an X post, saying “only the players suffer for stupidity and selfishness.”
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