Two staff members of the Canadian Olympic team have been sent home after they were caught spying on a competitor’s soccer team using a drone.
According to The Athletic, New Zealand’s Olympic Committee (NZOC) filed a complaint stating that the drone had flown over a women’s soccer team’s training session in Saint-Étienne, France on Monday, July 22. The team’s staffer reported the drone to the authorities. They later found and detained the drone’s operator.
The drone operator was identified as a Canadian Olympic team’s staff member.
The Canadian Olympic Committee addressed the incident by stating a separate drone incident occurred during Team New Zealand’s training session on Friday, July 19. As a result of both incidents, Team Canada’s female soccer head coach, Bev Priestman said she would remove herself from overseeing Thursday’s game against New Zealand.
The Canadian Olympic Committee also identified the staffers involved in the drone situation. They were Joseph Lombardi, an “unaccredited analyst,” and Jasmine Mander, a coach who oversees Lombardi. Both have been removed from the team and sent home.
The committee further pointed out that the Canada Soccer staff members were doing “mandatory ethics training” following the incident.
Olympic Committee Confirmed Staff Member Used Drone to Record New Zealand’s Women’s Soccer Practice
The Canadian Olympic Committee confirmed the drone was used to “record the New Zealand women’s football team during practice.”
The committee has apologized to New Zealand’s players, federation, and the International Olympic Committee. It further stated it was “shocked and disappointed” by the former staff members’ actions.
Priestman also issued a statement about the situation. “On behalf of our entire team, I first and foremost want to apologize to the players and staff at New Zealand Footballl and to the players on Team Canada,” Priestman stated. “This does not represent the values that our team stands for.”
The coach then shared, “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.”
FIFA’s disciplinary committee has opened proceedings against Canada Soccer, Priestman, Mander, and Lombardi. This is due to the potential breach of Article 13 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. It also could breach Article 6.1 of the Regulations Olympic Football Tournaments Games.
“The matter will be submitted for the consideration of the Disciplinary Committee in the next days.”
New Zealand Football CEO Andrew Pragnell also called for “urgent action” to be taken. “To hear now that the Canadian team had filmed secret footage of our team training at least twice is incredibly concerning,” Pragnell said. “And if not treated urgently could have wider implications for the integrity of the tournament.”