Earlier this week, the Canadian women’s soccer team was caught spying on its New Zealand opponent’s practice with a drone which saw two staffers immediately sent home. It turns out this may not have been the first time Canada’s teams did this, however.
According to a report from TSN, the coaching staff and contractors working for both the men’s and women’s Canadian national soccer teams have spied on opponents for years with and without drones, including during the women’s gold medal-winning performance in Tokyo in 2021 and a World Cup qualifying game against Panama in 2022. In the latter case, a complaint was made by the Panamanian Football Federation to Canada Soccer and Concacaf.
This week, Joseph Lombardi, an unaccredited analyst with Canada Soccer, was caught piloting a drone over New Zealand’s soccer team’s closed practice session. Lombardi and assistant coach Jasmine Mander were sent home as a result and, while she apologized in a statement issued that same day, head coach Bev Priestman was later suspended from coaching the rest of the Paris games.
After the initial story broke, Canada Soccer chief executive Kevin Blue said he had been provided new evidence that the team had been spying on opponents before the Paris games, leading to Priestman’s suspension.
Canada’s spying scandal doesn’t stop with the women’s team. According to TSN sources, the men’s national team also filmed closed training sessions of opponents, including practice sessions of the US men’s team in 2019 and a World Cup qualifying match against Honduras in 2021.
TSN cites two sources for the information, both of whom asked to remain anonymous due to fears of retaliation. It is not clear if any players were aware of what the coaching staff was doing.
“This is awful, the worst-case scenario,” Amy Walsh, a former women’s national team player, tells TSN. “I feel sick to my stomach, genuinely nauseated. I understand when you get to a high level, people will be ruthless and do whatever they can to gain a competitive advantage but this is so far over the line. The players are benefiting from the coaches cheating. There’s a certain amount of blind trust players have that coaches are doing things the right way and this is the ultimate betrayal.”
The Canadian women’s soccer team defeated New Zealand yesterday 2-1.
Image credits: Elements of header photo licensed via Depositphotos.