Olympic football: Canada coaching staff ‘objected’ to flying drones before Paris 2024
Two years before scandal engulfs Team Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympics, members of Canada’s women’s soccer coaching staff “objected” to requests to fly drones over opposition training grounds.
An independent external investigation into the illegal use of drones commissioned by Canada Football found that a coach raised concerns “on multiple occasions” between 2022 and 2024.
Two Canadian coaching staff send home During the Olympics, national team coach Beverley Priestman was fired after flying a drone over a training session with group stage rival New Zealand.
The pastor is pause Canada Football launched an investigation into the incident shortly after the incident, and the governing body said on Tuesday that the 38-year-old Englishwoman would not return to the position.
“The search for a new head coach for the women’s national team will begin soon,” it said in a statement.
To comply with privacy laws and a commitment to confidentiality, the name of the person who raised the objection has been redacted from the transcript released as part of the investigation’s findings.
The report concluded that no players on Canada’s women’s national team viewed the drone footage.
Two women’s national team coaches “directed inappropriate surveillance ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics,” but “no evidence was found” that such conduct occurred at the rescheduled 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where Canada won the gold medal.
The investigation, conducted by Sonia Regenbogen of law firm Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark, prompted Canada Soccer to commit to operational and structural changes.
These include contractually mandated reporting of unethical conduct and new software to facilitate confidential reporting, as well as education about Canada Soccer’s Code of Conduct and Ethics.
“The independent investigators’ findings demonstrate that the drone incident in Paris is symptomatic of an unacceptable culture and inadequate oversight of the national team’s past,” Canada Football Association CEO Kevin Blue said.
“We are working hard to transform Canadian football into a federation that Canadians trust and are proud of, one that will not be defined by the unfortunate actions of the past.”
