NDP MP Niki Ashton has put forward a motion to call the leaders of Canada’s national women’s soccer team and Canada Soccer to testify on the drone spying scandal before the House of Commons’ heritage committee.
“This isn’t just about what happened at the Olympics. It’s about Canada’s reputation in soccer and in sports,” the Manitoba MP said in an emailed statement.
“Canadians need to know the full picture of what happened and how to make sure this never happens again. We are seeking accountability from Team Canada officials and [Canada Soccer].”
A Canada Soccer analyst was caught operating a drone to spy on the New Zealand’s team’s practice ahead of the women’s national Olympic opener on July 25. Canada won that game 2-1.
The Canadian women’s soccer team scored a crucial win against Colombia to stay in the Olympics after losing points because of a drone spying scandal. The National’s Adrienne Arsenault asks analyst Shireen Ahmed and former player Clare Rustad how big the scandal is for the players, the Olympics and the sport.
As first reported by TSN, Ashton’s motion seeks to call head coach Bev Priestman, assistant coach Jasmine Mander, analyst Joey Lombardi and former coach of both the men’s and women’s national teams John Herdman.
“I want to be clear, the women soccer players who represented Canada did us proud. These athletes have reminded us that it takes years of hard work, dedication and sacrifice to reach this point. It also takes supportive families, friends, coaches and communities to reach this point,” she said.
“The athletes deserve answers. Canadians deserve answers. That’s what this motion is about.”
In her statement, Ashton stresses the importance of getting soccer in Canada “back on track” as the nation prepares to co-host the 2026 World Cup with the United States and Mexico.
CBC news has reached out to Canada Soccer for comment, as well as other members of the heritage committee.
Discipline for Team Canada
On July 28, FIFA levied a six-point penalty against the Canadian team, making it difficult for the defending Olympic champions to make it out of the tournament’s group stage.
The international soccer federation’s ruling cited emails from Canada Soccer coaching staff — including Priestman — which suggest using drones to spy on practices is more than an one-off occurrence.
“It’s something the analyst has always done and I know there is a whole operation on the men’s side with regards to it (we had [redacted] in with us recently and he was outstanding in this area),” says a March 20 message from Priestman cited by FIFA.
“Yesterday in a meeting when discussing, I asked [redacted] to propose a [sic] alternative solution as for scouting it can be the difference between winning and losing and all top 10 teams do it.”
New redacted emails from suspended head coach Bev Priestman suggest drone spying may have been routine practice with one message stating ‘all top 10 teams do it.’ The revelations came as Canada’s women won a do-or-die match against Colombia to advance to the Olympic knockout stage.
Team Canada unsuccessfully tried to appeal FIFA’s point deduction.
Priestman, Mander and Lombardi were all sent home from the Olympics by the Canadian Olympic Committee. FIFA later suspended all three from soccer activities for a year. Canada Soccer did not appeal those punishments.
Priestman served as head coach when the Canadian women’s team won gold at the 2020 games in Tokyo.
FIFA has said it will conduct a further investigation into the spying practices, starting with the Olympic incident.
Despite the six-point penalty, Canada was able to advance to the knock-out round with additional wins over France and Colombia. Germany eliminated Canada in the quarterfinals last Saturday on penalty kicks.