Soccer’s foremost international body, FIFA, has dropped the hammer on Canada Soccer with heavy sanctions against the women’s national team and three members of the coaching staff as the aftermath continues from the drone scandal.
Head coach Bev Priestman, assistant coach Jasmine Mander, and technical analyst Joseph Lombardi have each been suspended from taking part in any football-related activity for one year. Canada Soccer has also been fined $313,000 Canadian Dollars.
Additionally, Canada Soccer’s women’s national team has been hit with a deduction of six points from Group A competition at the Paris Olympics football tournament. The deduction puts them in last place with negative three points after narrowly defeating New Zealand, the team the drones were caught spying on, on matchday one.
FIFA announced the sanctions in a statement released Saturday that read in part:
“CSA [Canada Soccer Association] was found responsible for failing to respect the applicable FIFA regulations in connection with its failure to ensure the compliance of its participating officials of the OFT [Official Football Tournament] with the prohibition on flying drones over any training sites.
The officials were each found responsible for offensive behaviour and violation of the principles of fair play in connection with the CSA’s Women’s representative team’s drones usage in the scope of the OFT.
CSA and its officials have been notified of the terms of the FIFA Appeal Committee’s decision today. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the FDC, they have ten days in which to request a motivated decision, which, if requested, would subsequently be published on legal.fifa.com. The decision remains subject to a potential appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”
The sanctions come after FIFA announced on Wednesday that they would launch an investigation into Priestman, Mander, and Lombardi. FIFA immediately fast tracked the case from the FIFA Disciplinary Committee (FDC) to the FIFA Appeal Committee to allow this swift turnaround from investigation to sanctions.
Canada Soccer is currently considering their right to appeal the sanctions. Canada Soccer CEO & General Secretary Kevin Blue released the following statement:
“Canada Soccer is disappointed with the impact of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee’s decision on our athletes. We are exploring options to appeal on the basis that it is excessively punitive towards our Women’s National Team players – who were not involved in any unethical behaviour. Canada Soccer took swift action to suspend the implicated staff members and is also proceeding with a broad independent review that may lead to further disciplinary action. We appreciate the understanding and support for our players from our Canadian fans during this time.”
The Canadian Olympic Committee CEO & General Secretary David Shoemaker released this statement regarding the points deduction that affects Canada’s Olympic hopes:
“We feel terrible for the athletes on the Canadian Women’s Olympic Soccer Team who as far as we understand played no role in this matter. In support of the athletes, together with Canada Soccer, we are exploring rights of appeal related to the six point deduction at this Olympic tournament.”
What it means
Though Canada opened their tournament with a 2-1 win over New Zealand the challenge of advancing from the group stage to the knockout round now becomes significantly more difficult.
In order for Canada to advance they would need to beat France on Sunday in Saint-Etienne, and Colombia on Wednesday in Nice. Even if Canada win both games and climb out of a six point deduction they could still need help via goal differential to become one of the top two third-place teams and advance.
The last time a third place team advanced out of the group stage with just three points was New Zealand in 2012.
France currently top Group A with three points after beating Colombia 3-2 on Thursday. Colombia is in second with zero points, a negative one goal differential, and two goals scored. New Zealand is in third place with zero points, a negative one goal differential, and one goal scored.
Canada sits in last place in Group A with negative three points.
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There is a small chance Canada could finish second in Group A on goal differential if they win both remaining games and New Zealand lose to both France and Colombia.
The move to dock Canada six points at a major tournament, while the tournament is already underway, is an unpredicted decision from FIFA. It sends a strong message that cheating will not be tolerated.
Canada is now in win or go home mode as they try to defend their Olympic gold.
Statements from former players
Several former Canadian women’s national team players have released their own statements regarding the incident. Most express dissappointment in their federation and the sanctions but most importantly share their support for the players who are now affected by something they had no direct knowledge of.
