Canada’s women’s soccer team will be without its head coach as it attempts to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals after she was suspended amid drone-spying allegations in the opening days of the Paris Games.
The Canadian Olympic Committee said Thursday that head coach Bev Priestman had been suspended and that assistant coach Andy Spence would lead the defending gold medal team throughout the competition.
Priestman will remain suspended until the committee completes an independent external review of the incident, in which a drone was allegedly used to spy on a New Zealand team practice, the group said.
On Monday, the New Zealand team reported to police that members had seen a drone flying overhead at its practice in Saint-Étienne.
French authorities detained a support staff member of the Canadian team, alleged to be the drone operator, on Wednesday.
At the time, Canada’s Olympic Committee said it was “shocked and disappointed,” and it apologized to New Zealand Football and the New Zealand Olympic Committee.
Later Wednesday, the Canadian organization said it had learned of another “drone incident” at the New Zealand team’s Friday practice, and it announced it was sending home Joseph Lombardi, an unaccredited analyst with Canada Soccer, and assistant coach Jasmine Mander. The group also said Canada Soccer would “undergo mandatory ethics training.”
It added that it had accepted Priestman’s decision to sit out Thursday’s match against New Zealand.
Priestman apologized to the New Zealand team at the time.
“This does not represent the values that our team stands for,” Priestman said in a statement. “I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program.”
She said she was removing herself from Thursday’s match “to emphasize our team’s commitment to integrity.”
Canada beat New Zealand, 2-1, in the Group A match.
Early Friday, the Canadian Olympic Committee announced its decision to remove Priestman for the rest of the Games and said Canada Soccer had suspended her.
The group said it made its decision after it became aware of “additional information” regarding “previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” Kevin Blue, Canada Soccer’s CEO and general secretary, said in a statement.
Priestman in January signed on to coach Canada through the 2027 Women’s World Cup. She was first brought to the team in November 2020 and led it to the gold in Tokyo.
