Jason Pine: Canada’s Olympic spying on Football Ferns dirtier than the Seine

Faster, higher, stronger.

The Canadian women’s football team has taken the central word in the Olympic Games
motto and literally applied it to their analysis of their first opponents, New Zealand.

Unfortunately for the Canadians, they didn’t fly their drone high enough to avoid detection and have become embroiled in scandal before the Olympic flame has even been lit.

Spying on opponents isn’t new. Teams and coaches are always looking for a competitive advantage, by fair means, or sometimes more clandestine ones.

A Wellington Phoenix assistant coach famously hid in the bushes above Perth Glory’s training ground ahead of their playoff match in 2010 to study which way their potential penalty-takers might go.

Former Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa admitted his staff had spied on their opponents for much of the 2018/19 season and, when caught, even held an extraordinary press conference to explain his methodology.

But spying at the Olympics crosses a much more clearly defined moral line.

Integrity, honesty and the spirit of fair play apply more under the shadow of the Olympic rings than elsewhere. To engage in this sort of behaviour seems grubbier than parts of the River Seine.

Perhaps most baffling of all is why Canada felt the need to illegitimately gain an advantage over a side they are clearly superior to.

With all due respect, why would Canada – the reigning Olympic champions and permanent inhabitants in the world’s top 10 – feel the need to spy on the Football Ferns?

Friday will be the 16th meeting between these two nations, of which New Zealand have won only one, the first ever meeting between the two in 1987.

In the 14 matches since, New Zealand have scored four goals to Canada’s 28. History tells us this will be very comfortable for those wearing maple leaves.

Oh, Canada, what have you done? Why on Earth did it even cross your minds that aerial snooping would be required?

This is akin to the All Blacks flying a drone over Uruguay’s training at a Rugby World Cup.

If that ever happened, the shame and embarrassment would be far worse than any official sanction.

As spy missions go, this is very much Maxwell Smart, not James Bond.

How can I watch the Paris Olympics 2024?

Sky New Zealand has the broadcasting rights to the 2024 Olympics and will have 12 channels dedicated to the 32 sports, including coverage on free-to-air Sky Open.

Newstalk ZB and GOLD SPORT are the Official Radio Broadcast Partner of the Olympic Games Paris 2024

Listen to live commentary of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on GOLD SPORT and iHeartRadio. Coverage of selected events will also be live on Newstalk ZB.