Canada soccer drone scandal, explained: New details allege Canadian men’s and women’s national teams spied ‘for years’ | Sporting News Canada

The Canadian soccer teams would do anything to win matches, even if that means allegedly spying on opponents.

The women’s national team was caught spying on a private New Zealand practice earlier this week, and that’s led to a history of dishonest and rule-breaking practices from the country’s national soccer teams being uncovered.

Both the men’s and women’s sides have spied on opponents’ closed-off practices “for years,” according to a report from TSN.

This scandal extends back to at least the 2021 Olympics when the women’s national team won the gold medal in Tokyo. The report has caused an ongoing downfall within the country’s soccer programs.

Here’s all you need to know about unraveling scandal.

MORE: Canada women’s soccer defeats New Zealand to begin 2024 Paris Olympics

Canada soccer drone scandal, explained

The scandal began to unravel when New Zealand women’s soccer players reported a drone flying over their practice a few days prior to their matchup with Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

It initially seemed to be a one-time thing, as Canada denounced the “non-accredited member of the Canada soccer support team” who committed the act. A report from TSN on Thursday alleges that this has been happening “for years.”

TSN spoke with two sources with “first-hand knowledge,” though neither was named for safety reasons.

Spying on opponents was allegedly part of some people’s jobs, and the soccer teams told the staff members “they could lose their positions with the federation if they did not go along with the demands.”

“In a couple of scenarios, people have been pushed and have been told, ‘You have to give 110 percent, and this is part of the job, so if you don’t feel comfortable with doing this, you do not have a place on the team,'” one source told TSN. “It’s not something that’s talked about and it’s not something there are a lot of text messages about because of how sensitive this is. Some of the people who have had to do the filming or review the filming have said to a few staff members how uncomfortable it was for them.”

A source detailed that staff members would use bushes, fences, and trees to stay hidden while spying on an opposing team at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Furthermore, the staff knew it was harder to do this in foreign countries. At home, the coaches and executives know where everyone practices and plays.

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“When you’re abroad, it requires a little bit more research,” a source said. “When you are in Concacaf events, you do have the ability of finding out where the rest of the teams are training because Concacaf, FIFA, and the Olympics, they all publish where the teams are training in one way or another. You also know just by looking at the social medias from the other teams and seeing what pictures they are posting.”

The source said that while this is widely considered cheating, the “coaches just see it as a competitive advantage and justify it by saying everyone does it.”

Brev Priestman, the Canadian women’s national team head coach, apologized for the drone incident that happened earlier that week. Still, the head coach was removed from the team for the 2024 Olympics.

Andy Spence, the assistant coach, will take over head coaching duties.

“Over the past 24 hours, additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” the Canadian Olympic Committee stated. “In light of these new revelations, Canada Soccer has made the decision to suspend Women’s National Team Head Coach, Bev Priestman, for the remainder of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and until the completion of our recently announced independent external review.”

While Priestman wasn’t officially fired, it’s unclear if she will ever return to the team. What the investigation uncovers will likely be the determining factor in that decision

The Sporting News will update this story as more information becomes public.