FIFA has upheld their six-point deduction to Canada’s Olympic women’s soccer team and, with it, revealed shocking emails delivered by head coach Bev Priestman.
The soccer team has been embroiled in a spying scandal after it was discovered that team officials were using drones to record other teams during closed practices. Priestman, who came to Paris as the team’s head coach, was sent home by the Canadian Olympic Committee and was given a one-year suspension by FIFA for her involvement.
Canada Soccer appealed the decision to dock the women’s team six points in the Olympic tournament, but FIFA tossed it and revealed emails showing just how much Priestman knew of and encouraged the spying.
The emails were sent on March 20.
“It’s something the analyst has always done,” Priestman wrote in an email. “I know there is a whole operation on the Men’s side in regards to it.”
“It can be the difference between winning and losing and all the top 10 teams do it.”
FIFA
Another email sent on March 20 that was uncovered by FIFA came from an analyst on the team sent to Priestman referencing a previous conversation they had with the Canada coach on the subject. In it, the unnamed performance analyst refuses to go forward with requests to engage in spying on opponents.
“In terms of the ‘spying’ conversation, I came off the meeting with clarity that you understood my reasons for me being unwilling to do this moving forward,” the unnamed analyst wrote. “But just wanted to confirm that you will not be asking me to fulfill the role of ‘spying’ in the upcoming camp and future camps.”
FIFA
In their appeal, Canada Soccer told FIFA that they would also investigate Priestman’s claims that the Canadian men’s program engages in similar spying practices.
“Bev Priestman references that the men’s senior national team may have employed a similar scouting tactic,” Canada Soccer said in a statement over the weekend. “New Canada Soccer administration is supporting a full independent investigation of this issue and has already taken steps to ensure that this scouting tactic does not happen again.”
FIFA
On top of the punishments doled out by FIFA and Canada Soccer, Priestman also had some of her funding cut off by the Canadian government as a result of the scandal. The 38-year-old British soccer coach sent out an apology last weekend where she took full responsibility for her actions.
The spying scandal has also had a significant impact on the Canadian women’s Olympic team. The point deduction has given the team no room for error, and they must win their last round-robin match against Colombia later today if they wish to advance.
Their Olympic hopes nearly came to an end on Sunday against France before a last-minute goal in extra time propelled Canada to a 2-1 victory.