Canada’s women’s soccer team will be without its head coach as it attempts to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals after she was suspended amid drone-spying allegations in the opening days of the Paris Games.
The Canadian Olympic Committee said Thursday that head coach Bev Priestman had been suspended and that assistant coach Andy Spence would lead the defending gold medal team throughout the competition.
Priestman will remain suspended until the committee completes an independent external review of the incident in which a drone was allegedly used to spy on a New Zealand team practice, the group said.
On Monday, the New Zealand women’s team reported to police that members had seen a drone flying overhead their practice in Saint-Étienne.
The alleged drone operator, a support staff member of the Canadian Women’s soccer team, was detained by French authorities on Wednesday.
At the time, Canada’s Olympic Committee said it was “shocked and disappointed” and apologized to New Zealand Football and the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC).
Later Wednesday, the Canadian organization said it had learned of another “drone incident” at the New Zealand team’s Friday practice, and announced it was sending home Joseph Lombardi, an unaccredited analyst with Canada Soccer, and assistant coach Jasmine Mander. The group also said Canada Soccer would “undergo mandatory ethics training.”
It added that it had accepted Priestman’s decision to sit out Thursday’s match between Canada and New Zealand.
Priestman, at the time, apologized to the New Zealand women’s soccer team.
“This does not represent the values that our team stands for,” Priestman said in a statement. “I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program.”
She said she was removing herself from Thursday’s match “to emphasize our team’s commitment to integrity.”
Canada beat New Zealand, 2-1, in that Group A match.
Early Friday, the Canadaian Olympic Committee announced its decision to remove Priestman for the remainder of the Games and said she had been suspended by Canada Soccer.
The group said it made its decision after it became aware of “additional information” regarding “previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” Kevin Blue, Canada Soccer CEO & General Secretary, said in a statement.
Priestman in January signed on to coach Canada through the 2027 Women’s World Cup. She was first brought to the team in November 2020 and led her team to the gold in Tokyo.
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