July 26 – Having removed herself from her country’s opening game against New Zealand, Canada’s Olympic women’s football coach Bev Priestman has been thrown out of the competition and suspended by the country’s football federation as the fallout continues over the alleged drone spying scandal.
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) initially confirmed that assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi were sent home after a drone was flown over New Zealand’s training session on Monday.
But Canada Soccer says the latest action was taken because “over the past 24 hours, additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games”.
Canada Soccer chief executive Kevin Blue confirmed Priestman will be suspended for the remainder of the Games while an “independent external review” takes place.
The move represents the ultimate embarrassment for Canada and devastating for Priestman personally.
Leading the team to Olympic gold in Tokyo three years ago was arguably the biggest moment in the team’s history and her career. Assistant coach Andy Spence will now lead the defending gold medalists for the remainder of the tournament.
Priestman denied any involvement but deliberately did not attend Thursday’s opening 2-1 win over New Zealand.
She spent five years with the Canadian Soccer Association in a variety of coaching roles before returning in June 2018 to her native England, where she served as coach of the women’s under-18 team and assistant coach with the senior women’s team.
Before that she spent 4 1/2 years as head of football development in New Zealand before leaving in June 2013.
On Thursday a French court said Lombardi had been handed an eight-month suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to flying a drone in an urban area without a licence.
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