FIFA Penalizes Canadian Women's Team for Drone Espionage

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) announced on Saturday the deduction of six points from the Canadian women's team participating in the Paris Olympics and a one-year suspension for their coach, Bev Priestman, following a scandal involving the use of a drone to spy on a rival team's training session.

Additionally, FIFA decided to suspend Canadian officials Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander for one year.

The Canadian Olympic Committee also excluded Priestman after the Canadian Football Association suspended her due to the espionage scandal. Canada won their opening match of the women's soccer tournament in Paris against New Zealand 2-1 on Thursday, a game from which Priestman voluntarily withdrew after the espionage scandal broke earlier this week.

A drone operated by a member of the Canadian women's soccer team disrupted a training session for the New Zealand team last Monday, just days before their opening match against the gold medalists of the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Priestman apologized to the New Zealand players for the incident, stating that the ultimate responsibility lies with her.

"This does not represent the values of our team. I am ultimately responsible for the behavior within our program," she said.