Canada’s Olympic drone spying scandal a symptom of ‘unacceptable culture’

The drone spying scandal that erupted during Canada’s women’s football team’s 2024 Paris Olympics campaign was a symptom of a “past pattern of an unacceptable culture”, Canada Soccer has said after an independent review.

A drone was allegedly used to spy on a training session of one of their opponents, New Zealand. The head coach, Bev Priestman, was subsequently banned by Fifa for a year, while analyst Joseph Lombardi and the assistant coach Jasmine Mander were also banned after the allegations. Priestman was removed from her role.

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On Friday, the sport’s governing body in Canada, Canada Soccer, said it had received the report of an independent reviewer “hired by the organisation’s board of directors to investigate the illegal use of drones at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games”, and the organisation’s senior officials provided their initial reactions while promising a more extensive response in the coming days.

Kevin Blue, the chief executive and general secretary of Canada Soccer, said: “Our initial review of the conclusions of the independent investigator reveals that the drone incident in Paris was a symptom of a past pattern of an unacceptable culture and insufficient oversight within the national teams.

“While we are being thoughtful about how best to address the findings, we also want to move decisively. To that end, we will release key conclusions and next steps within a week.”

Peter Augruso, the president of Canada Soccer, added: “We are committed to renewing our organisation, and ensuring Canada Soccer is a federation that people can be proud of. We know that more needs to be done and change takes time. We appreciate the support and patience of partners, families and fans, and look forward to sharing our next steps soon.”

Friday’s statement added that lawyer Sonia Regenbogen, of Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark, LLP, had conducted the independent investigation and had considered evidence from a wide range of people, including coaches, administrative staff, former employees, and Canada Soccer’s CEO and board chair.

Despite being deducted six points during the group stage of the Olympic tournament in the wake of the scandal, Canada progressed to the quarter-finals with three victories on the pitch, before being eliminated by Germany on penalties.