FIFA is coming down laborious on Canada after assistant coaches for its Ladies’s Soccer staff had been discovered utilizing drones to spy on New Zealand practices forward of their opening match on Thursday.
After New Zealand complained, the organizer of Olympic soccer tournaments and World Cup video games mentioned on Saturday that it’s going to dock six points from Canada Ladies’s Soccer and high-quality the Canadian Soccer Affiliation $226,000. FIFA additionally mentioned it’ll block assistant coaches Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander, in addition to head coach Beverly Priestman, from taking part in soccer-related exercise for a full yr. Experiences didn’t say what sort of drone was utilized by the assistant coaches.
In flip, the pinnacle of Canada’s Olympic Committee, David Shoemaker, mentioned Canada is “exploring options to appeal” the choice. Shoemaker singled out the six-point high-quality, calling it “excessively punitive in direction of our Ladies’s Nationwide Group gamers – who weren’t concerned in any unethical behaviour.”
Priestman has denied being conscious of the spy drones, per AP News, however said that, “regardless of the main points, I’m finally accountable.” Priestman oversaw Canada Ladies’s Soccer because it secured its first gold medal within the Tokyo Video games in 2021.
Trending Merchandise
