Canada women’s national soccer team head coach Bev Priestman apologized to her players Sunday in her first comments since FIFA suspended her for one year as a result of Canada’s use of drone surveillance at the 2024 Olympics in France.
“As the leader of the team on the field, I want to take accountability, and I plan to fully cooperate with the investigation,” Priestman said via a statement issued through her legal counsel, Layth Gafoor of Lucentem (a sports and entertainment firm).
“I fought with every ounce of my being to make this program better, much of which will never be known or understood,” she said “I wish I could say more, but I will refrain at this time, given the appeals process and the ongoing investigation.”
In addition to Priestman, FIFA suspended the analyst who twice flew a drone over New Zealand training and an assistant coach for a year from all footballing activities. Canada Soccer was also fined — and most crucially during these Games, the team was docked six points through the group stage, hindering its chances of defending its gold medal from the Tokyo Olympics.
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FIFA docks Canada women’s soccer 6 points for drone spying
Both Canada Soccer and the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) are exploring appeals regarding the docked points, viewing it as “excessively punitive” to the players, they said in statements Saturday.
Canada, which plays France at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, could still advance out of Group A (which includes France, Colombia and New Zealand) if it wins its next two matches to earn three points through the end of the group stage, depending on other results. With the limited size of the Olympic tournament at 12 teams, eight must advance — which means the top two third-place teams make it to the quarterfinals. There’s even a remote chance for Canada to advance on a single point, though it would have to rely on other poor performances and goal differentials to get through.
FIFA’s decision concerned Canada Soccer’s actions at the Olympics, but a wider-ranging investigation has been promised by the national federation across both the men’s and women’s programs.
Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue said that based on what he had learned so far, he was concerned there was “a potential long-term, deeply embedded systemic culture” of surveillance of other teams.
“I am absolutely heartbroken for the players, and I would like to apologize from the bottom of my heart for the impact this situation has had on all of them,” Priestman said in her statement. “I know how hard they have worked following a very difficult year in 2023, and that they are a group of people who care very much about sportsmanship and integrity.”
This story will be updated.
(Photo: William West / AFP via Getty Images)
