Right in the middle of the women's OS tournament in France, it was revealed that Canada's national team had video-spied on opponent New Zealand's training with the help of a drone.
A video analyst was arrested by French police and has claimed that no one else in the leadership was aware of the spying.
Banned for a year
An independent investigation comes to a different conclusion. According to the report, national team captain Bev Priestman and assistant coach Jasmine Mander were behind and approved the spying on opponents, reports TV channel TSN.
Both Priestman and Mander were sent home from the OS after the scandal. Fifa (International Football Association) banned the trio for a year, but now Canada's football association announces that Priestman and Mander are being fired. The video analyst has resigned.
At the same time, it emerges in the investigation that John Herdman – long-time national team captain for both the women's and men's teams in Canada – may have breached the association's ethical rules. There is evidence to suggest this, but Herdman has not been interviewed by the investigator due to "scheduling problems".
John Herdman was national team captain for the women's team from 2011 to 2018, with Bev Priestman as assistant coach, among other things, for the last five years. Between 2018 and 2023, he coached the men's team, including during the World Championship in Qatar in 2022.
No spying during the OS gold
In July, Herdman, who now coaches Toronto in the men's MSL league, said he was certain that his national team never spied on opponents during the OS or World Championship.
When the investigation was released on Tuesday, Canada's football association wrote that spying on opponents had occurred before the OS 2024, but there was no evidence that it happened when the Canadian women won OS gold in Tokyo 2021. Then Canada – with Priestman at the helm – won the final against Sweden after a penalty shootout.
