Canadian men’s team attempted drone usage during Copa America run, Canada Soccer CEO admits amid spying scandal

On the day that Paris declared the Olympics officially open, the storm clouds hanging over the Canadian soccer program showed little signs of breaking, continuing to put the rest of the national Olympic team in the shade.

Canada Soccer chief executive Kevin Blue kicked things off a few hours before the opening ceremony by acknowledging that Canada’s attempted drone usage was not limited to this tournament, or to the women’s team.

According to Blue, who only joined the federation in February, there was at least one more incident during the Canadian men’s team’s recent Cinderella run to the semi-finals of the Copa America.

“As it relates to the current situation on the men’s team, I’m aware of an instance of attempted drone usage during Copa America,” Blue said. “My current understanding is that the fact pattern of that instance is significantly different than what occurred here, especially as it relates to the potential impact on competitive integrity. But we’re doing a review to specifically obtain a full understanding of these situations and what others may exist.”

He would not describe in detail what happened, but did say that Canada’s new men’s coach, Jesse Marsch, knew about it.

“[Marsch] was aware of it after the fact, at a minimum,” Blue said.

“The more I learn about this specific matter, the more concerned I get about a potential long-term and deeply embedded systemic culture of this type of thing occurring, which is obviously completely unacceptable,” Blue added.

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This now suggests that Canada’s pattern of cheating spans both programs, many years and multiple coaching regimes.

The tentacles of this scandal reached more figures in Canadian soccer as Friday wore on.

Back home, Toronto FC head coach John Herdman was asked about the accusations. He is the coach who oversaw the women’s and men’s national teams from 2011 until 2023, spanning two Olympics and the 2022 FIFA men’s World Cup.

At a TFC press conference, Herdman said that while news about drone use was a “surprise and a shock,” he added that the Olympics wasn’t the time to “nitpick about scouting at tournaments.” He also insisted that it wasn’t something that took place during his time in charge of the national teams.

“I’m highly confident that in my time as a head coach, at an Olympic Games or World Cup, we’ve never been involved in any of those activities,” he said.

However, when asked specifically about accusations of drone use from the Honduras national men’s team stemming from a 2021 World Cup qualifier in Toronto – during his time in charge of the men’s program – Herdman demurred. He referred to Canada Soccer’s external review, something he repeatedly said he would be willing to take part in.

“I’ll be happy to share my experiences as a coach through 10 years of work,” he said. “But again, I can be clear that going into Olympics and World Cups, Qatar, Rio, London, we had a great experience there. We had no problems and we played with spirit, integrity, heart, everything that you’d expect a Canadian team to do. And I’m proud of that.”

Shortly afterward, Christine Sinclair, the captain of Herdman’s two Olympic teams as well as the squad that won gold in Tokyo three years ago, released a statement on social media denying any knowledge of drone usage during her time with the national team.

“It’s unfortunate that the players of our national team have had to play through condemnable actions by some of their staff as they attempt to defend our gold medal. Actions players have no control over,” Sinclair wrote on Instagram. “I want to be clear that having been a national team player for 23 years, we were never shown or discussed drone footage in team or individual meetings I’ve been present for.”

Sinclair, the leading scorer in international soccer who retired from the national team after last year’s World Cup, went on to add that she and her Canadian teammates have always played the game with sportsmanship.

“As players, we train endlessly our whole lives for those moments. Together, we take pride in letting our play speak for itself,” the statement read. “We battle within the touchlines with integrity, and try to meet each other with grace – win, lose or draw.”

However, Didier Drogba, another former international goal-scoring great, told CBC Sports that using drones is just “part of the game.”

The former Ivory Coast and Chelsea striker was interviewed walking the red carpet at the opening ceremony, and laughed when asked about the scandal.

“It happens a few times,” he said of his own experience. “It doesn’t really affect the result of the game. It affects some situations, I believe, of the game, but the end result, when you’re good and you know what you’ve prepared, you know how to win. You know how to play and how to win.

“And for me, they just caught them, that’s it. You know, it’s part of the game.”

Having already suspended women’s head coach Bev Priestman until the conclusion of both the Games and Canada Soccer’s review, Blue said that he will not consider withdrawing the Canadian women’s team from these Olympics because that would be “to the detriment of the players.”

The CEO insisted that none of the drone footage gathered of New Zealand’s team practices in France was viewed by the players on Canada’s Olympic team as they prepared to face the Kiwis in their opening match Thursday, which Canada won 2-1.

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Blue and Canada Soccer president Peter Augruso – both just months into their jobs with the national sport body – are in St-Étienne with the women’s team, investigating what happened with the drones in France.

“I feel deeply for our players who are engaged in what is supposed to be a lifetime highlight of being an Olympian,” Blue said. “The players themselves have not been involved in any unethical behaviour.”

Blue’s comments came after Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker said on Friday that the head coach of its women’s soccer team was “highly likely to have been aware” that drones were used to spy on an opponent’s practices in France.

Shoemaker made the remarks at the COC’s opening press conference at the Olympics, hours after Priestman had been removed from the Olympics earlier that morning.

“One of the key pieces of information was the conclusion from Canada Soccer that she needed to be suspended based on their accumulation of facts,” said Shoemaker. “I’ve seen some of them, some of the information they have, and we got some additional information ourselves. That made me conclude that she was highly likely to have been aware of the incidents in St-Étienne.”

The COC was asked if this could potentially impact the women’s Tokyo Olympic gold medal as well.

“There now appears to be information that could tarnish that Olympic performance in Tokyo,” Shoemaker added. “Makes me sick to my stomach to think that there could be something that calls into question what I’m sure so many of you have heard me say over the course of the last three years, one of my favourite Olympic moments in history, that women’s team winning that gold medal against all odds.”

Sinclair wasn’t the only former player who took to social media to rebuff the drone accusations on Friday. Former Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé, a key member of that gold-medal winning team in Tokyo who conceded just five goals in two penalty shootout victories during that tournament, was defiant.

“If anyone wants to speak about pks [penalty kicks]. I studied HARD the night before every match. Watched video of players taking pks in national-team and club games,” she said. “Made my own educated guesses based on that info. NO DRONE FOOTAGE was watched. Do not confuse great goalkeeping with cheating.”

Editor’s note: The story and headline have been updated to better reflect Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue’s comments.