Canada Soccer waiting on drone spying review, Priestman still getting paid

Nearly two months after announcing an independent, external review into the Paris Olympics drone spying scandal, Canada Soccer — like everyone else — is waiting on its findings.

Canada women’s coach Bev Priestman, assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi are serving one-year FIFA suspensions in the wake of New Zealand’s Olympic Committee filing a complaint with the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit, alleging drones were flown over a pair of pre-tournament practice sessions.

Mander and Lombardi were sent home immediately. Priestman initially removed herself from coaching the opening match but left the team after allegations of a wider culture of spying.

FIFA subsequently banned all three “from taking part in any football-related activity for a period of one year.”

Canada Soccer announced plans for the independent probe on July 24, saying it would “address the circumstances of the current matter, and more broadly, will seek to understand the historical culture of competitive ethics within all of our programs.”

“The outcome of this review will be shared publicly and corrective actions, if necessary, will be taken,” it added.

More than eight weeks later, Canada Soccer is still waiting for information to share. Priestman, while suspended, continues to get paid.

“Bev Priestman remains a paid staff member of Canada Soccer pending the conclusions of the review,” Canada Soccer said in a statement to The Canadian Press.

On July 31, Canada Soccer announced it had retained Sonia Regenbogen from the law firm of Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark to handle the review — “a focus on actions taken by Canada Soccer representatives related to the incident at the Olympic Games, and subsequently, any related matters of a historic nature.”

It called Regenbogen “a leading Canadian expert in conducting independent workplace investigations.”

“We will maintain prompt and transparent communication on this matter,” Canada Soccer said at the time.

Asked for a status update on the review, Canada Soccer offered little.

“We appreciate that there is interest in how the investigation is progressing, and we too look forward to its conclusions and recommendations. Given that this is an independent external investigation, we are not in control of its timelines.”

However, it said it remains “committed” to Regenbogen’s review.

The probe could shed light on past incidents of cheating. A ruling by the FIFA Appeals Committee put former Canada coach John Herdman at Ground Zero within Canada Soccer for spying on rival teams.

The July ruling, which dismissed a Canadian appeal of FIFA’s sanctions imposed on the women’s team, says Canada Soccer pointed the finger at Herdman.

“Canada is investigating the history of this matter, but we suspect that the practice of using a drone stems back to John Herdman when he was the head coach of the women’s national team. In other words, this was a practice started by one person — John Herdman — and continued by Bev Priestman,” Canada Soccer said, according to the FIFA document.

Herdman, who has said he will co-operate with the review, has declined to publicly address such allegations, citing the “integrity of the investigation.”

But he has repeated that his record was clean at the Olympics and World Cups.

“I can again clarify that at a FIFA World Cup, pinnacle event, Olympic Games, at a Youth World Cup, those activities have not been undertaken,” he said in July. “And I’ve got nothing else to say on that matter.”

Herdman, now head coach of Toronto FC, led the Canadian women to two Olympic medals, winning bronze in 2012 and 2016, as well as the 2011 and 2015 Women’s World Cup. He also took the Canadian men to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Toronto GM Jason Hernandez offered little this week when asked about the spying investigation, saying he was reserving “feelings, thoughts or determinations until the determinations are made and it all comes out.”

Former Canada captain Atiba Hutchinson was also reluctant to comment on the issue. But he suggested such spying “probably” happens all over the soccer world.

“We’ve seen a lot of things that have happened over the years in my days playing, with people watching and spying on us,” Hutchinson, who played for clubs in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Turkey and won a record 104 caps for Canada, said in an interview.

“I think countries, clubs, they find ways of trying to get a little bit of an advantage in certain things,” he added.

The sixth-ranked Canadian women return to action Oct. 25 against third-ranked Spain at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.

Canada Soccer has yet to announce who will coach the team. Assistant Andy Spence ran the team at the Olympics in Priestman’s absence.

Canada managed to reach the Olympic knockout round despite being docked six points for the spying scandal which also saw Canada Soccer fined 200,000 Swiss francs ($319,655).

The Canadians were eliminated in the quarterfinals by No. 4 Germany in a penalty shootout.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2024

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press