FIFA strips Canada of 6 Olympic women's soccer spots, suspends coaches

PARIS (AP) — FIFA has deducted six points from Canada in World Cup qualifying. Paris Olympics Women’s football championship and three coaches suspended for a year each on Saturday in Drone spy scandal.

The stunning penalties include a 200,000 Swiss franc ($226,000) fine for the Canadian Soccer Association in a case that escalated at the Summer Games. Two assistant coaches were caught using drones to spy on rival New Zealand’s training session before its opening match on Wednesday.

Head Coach Bev Priestman, who Led Canada to Olympic title in Tokyo In 2021, it was already suspended by the National Football Federation and then removed from the Olympic tournament.

Priestman and her associates involved in the case, Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander, have now been suspended from any football-related activity for one year.

FIFA has accelerated its disciplinary proceedings by asking appeal judges to deal with the case.

The FIFA Panel of Judges ruled that Priestman and her assistants were “each responsible for abusive behaviour and breach of the principles of fair play”.

The Canadian federation was held responsible for failing to ensure its employees complied with tournament rules.

The coaches and the Canadian federation can now appeal the sanctions to the Olympic Tribunal of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Paris, which was set up to hold urgent hearings and make rulings at the Olympic Games.

Priestman, 38, hails from England and was appointed to coach Canada in 2020. It’s under contract. Until the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

I stepped aside The defending Olympic champions’ opening match against New Zealand on Wednesday was postponed after the scandal broke. Canadian officials suspect the spying was systematic over years.

Two of its employees were sent home after being accused of using a drone to spy on New Zealand during training. Canada won the match 2-1. With interim coach Andy Spence in charge of the team.

The points deduction, if upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, would not disqualify Canada from the tournament. It would mean the team would have to win all three matches in Group A and hope to qualify with three points, most likely as runners-up.

Canada plays group leaders France on Sunday in Saint-Etienne, then faces Colombia on Thursday in Nice.