FIFA has taken strong action against Canada’s women’s soccer team for their part in the Olympics drone incident. At the same time, Team USA has said they had similar problems but chose not to tell them.
A drone flew over New Zealand’s training practice right before their Paris Games match against Canada, which caused a lot of controversy. However, the situation made Canada’s 2-1 win over New Zealand in Group A taste bad.
FIFA decided that the use of drones might have unfairly changed the result of the game because they cared about the competition’s integrity. As a result, Canada’s head coach, Bev Priestman, was kicked out of the Olympics. Her replacement was assistant coach Andy Spence.
FIFA’s punishments for Canada’s women’s soccer
- A $226,110 fine
- Bev Priestman, Joseph Lombardi, and Jasmine Mander will not be able to compete in foreign events for one year.
- Loss of six points in the Olympic group stage
Unnamed sources told ESPN that Team USA had faced a similar situation in 2021 while practicing at the top sports performance school IMG Academy in Florida. This came as a surprise. There was a man seen carefully watching Team USA train.
After the man said he worked at IMG, which turned out to be false, security allegedly stepped in and told him to leave. He turned out to be a member of the Canadian staff, but Team USA decided not to report it because they thought it was a small thing.
Several people from Team USA think the man who hasn’t been named could be John Herdman, who led Canada’s women’s team from 2011 to 2018 and their men’s team from 2018 to 2023. Herdman has been in trouble before. For example, he said that Team USA was using a drone and that they were recording a practice session with video cameras that looked like fake birds.
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On Friday, Herdman said he had nothing to do with what happened at the IMG practice and was sure that drones were not used while he was coach. Reports say that Canadian soccer teams have used drones for years, though. People are talking more about fair play and the use of technology in sports since the news came out. Fans quickly spoke out against how bad the alleged cheating scandal was online, making it even worse.
“If you can’t beat New Zealand without cheating, you have much bigger problems,” wrote one fan. “It’s never worth it to do this,” said another. Fans kept talking about how worried they were about how strict the drone flying rules were, saying that the breach is a serious blow to sports ethics.
Canada’s women’s soccer team has lost three points in Group A. France is in first place, followed by New Zealand, Colombia, and Canada. On Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, Canada’s second game at the 2024 Paris Olympics will be against the group winners.
