PARIS — Canada, the defending women’s Olympic soccer champion, defeated New Zealand 2-1 on Thursday.
It would’ve been a routine group match were it not for an espionage scandal hanging over the tournament.
Earlier in the week, staff from Canada’s team, ranked No. 8 in the world, were accused of using drones to spy on training sessions held by New Zealand, a No. 28-ranked team.
The fallout has been swift.
On the eve of the match between the two teams, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) said it fired two employees — one of which was dealt an eight-month prison sentence for flying an illegal drone — and later removed head coach Bev Priestman for the remainder of the Paris Olympic Games.
The COC identified the two staffers removed as Joseph Lombardi, an analyst with the team, and Jasmine Mander, an assistant coach. The COC reportedly confirmed that it was Lombardi who flew the drone over the New Zealand trainings.
Initially, Priestman said she would voluntarily sit out Thursday’s game against New Zealand "in the spirit of accountability" and sportsmanship. In a statement on Wednesday, Priestman apologized to New Zealand’s players and staff, as well as Team Canada.
"This does not represent the values that our team stands for," Priestman said.
Late Monday morning, the supervisor of the Olympic training sites in Saint-Etienne alerted police to the presence of a drone hovering above Auguste Dury stadium, where the New Zealand team had been practicing trainings are held, according to a translated statement from the Saint-Etienne prosecutor’s office.
Without naming Lombardi, the prosecutor’s office said that the drone’s pilot, a 43-year-old Canadian, was taken into custody and questioned.
On two separate occasions, he “had effectively filmed the closed-door training of the New Zealand women’s team, with the help of a drone," the statement read.
The footage taken on July 22 show the New Zealand players applying instructions given to them by their trainer, as well as images taken on July 20 — a previously unknown instance that he admitted during questioning — when they were training in the Michon stadium in Saint-Etienne.
He told officers during that the videos "had helped him learn the tactics of the opposing team," according to the statement.
The prosecutor’s office also questioned the assistant trainer from the Canadian team, whom the drone pilot had told about his visit to the New Zealand team’s training site. She had no knowledge of the acts and was exonerated, the office said.
The man was charged with maintaining an unmanned aircraft over a prohibited area, an offense that carries a maximum prison sentence of one year and a fine of 45,000 euros ($49,000).
Accompanied by a lawyer, the man accepted a sentence of 8 months in prison, as well as the confiscation of his drone and other electronic equipment seized from his hotel room, according to the prosecutor’s statement.
Canada Soccer is conducting an independent external review of the incident and the sport’s international governing body FIFA has launched disciplinary proceedings.
The fallout widens after pre-Paris drone spying comes to light
The repercussions for Canada's team continued after Canada Soccer moved to suspend coach Priestman over new revelations of “previous drone use against opponents,” predating the 2024 Paris Games, the federation said Thursday.
“Over the past 24 hours, additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” a statement read. As a result, Canada Soccer will suspend Priestman until the independent review is completed.
By Friday, the COC had removed coach Priestman from the Olympic team due to her suspension by Canada Soccer. In her place, assistant coach Andy Spence will lead the national soccer team for the remainder of the Games, the committee said.
The Kiwis used the drama as motivation during Thursday’s game against Canada, scoring the opening goal.
New Zealand coach Indiah-Page Riley told Reuters that the scandal "lit a fire in our bellies."
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