New report alleges long standing culture of spying by CanWNT and CanMNT staff

The GIST: Canada Soccer’s drone scandal escalated yesterday with a jaw-dropping TSN report that staff members and contractors from both CanWNT and CanMNT have used drones to spy on other teams for years, including during CanWNT’s gold medal run at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

• Canada Soccer has since suspended CanWNT head coach Bev Priestman, citing “additional information” about drone use prior to the Paris Olympics. Shocking doesn’t even begin to cover it.

The context: On Monday, the Canadian Olympic Committee sent home CanWNT analyst Joseph Lombardi and assistant coach Jasmine Mander, who allegedly flew a drone over No. 28 New Zealand’s practice. Priestman apologized for the incident and stepped away from coaching duties for Canada’s Olympic opener against New Zealand, which the red and white won 2–1 yesterday.

The new details: TSN’s bombshell report dropped after the game, alleging a culture of spying that involves both the women’s and men’s teams and dates back to at least 2019, even being carried out amid the strict environment at the Tokyo Games.

• One anonymous source said a coach filmed a Japanese women’s national team soccer practice — CanWNT notably went on to draw the host nation 1–1 in their opening group stage match before ultimately winning gold.

• Staffers were allegedly told they could lose their jobs if they did not fulfill demands to spy on other teams. At this time, it’s not clear if any CanWNT or CanMNT players were aware of the reported spying.

What’s next: FIFA and Canada Soccer are investigating the allegations, with the latter promising to make their findings public. Needless to say, there’s no place for this in sports — and the team’s suddenly tainted gold medal defense hangs in the balance ahead of Sunday’s 3 p.m. ET group stage match against No. 2 France.