PARIS –
Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive officer David Shoemaker says the head coach of the national women’s soccer team was likely aware drones were used to spy on an opposing country’s practices in France.
Shoemaker made the comments hours after Bev Priestman was suspended from the Olympic Games early Friday morning.
“One of the key pieces of information was the conclusion from Canada Soccer that she needed to be suspended, based on their accumulation of facts,” Shoemaker said at a news conference at Canada Olympic House.
“I’ve seen some of them, some of the information they have, and we’ve gathered some additional information ourselves that made me conclude that she was highly likely to have been aware of the incident here in St-Etienne.”
Two staff members were kicked off the soccer team Wednesday following reports a drone was used to spy on New Zealand practices Monday and last Friday.
Priestman voluntarily removed herself from Canada’s 2-1 win over New Zealand in St-Etienne to open the Olympic tournament Thursday.
She’d said the previous day she didn’t direct individuals to spy on New Zealand and was “highly disappointed” to learn of it.
Shoemaker said Wednesday he was persuaded that Priestman had “no involvement, no knowledge of the incident,” but his opinion later changed.
The decision to kick Priestman out of the Games was made at the recommendation of Canada Soccer’s CEO Kevin Blue, who stated in a release Friday that more information had recently come to light about previous incidents of drone spying predating the Olympic Games in Paris. Blue has pledged an independent review of the situation.
“We imposed the ultimate sanction the Canadian Olympic Committee can impose, bearing in mind that we oversee soccer players and the staff for this limited window with the Olympic Games, in removing them from the Olympic team, including the head coach, and sending them home,” Shoemaker said.
“The most important piece of information that I learned was that, in the interim 24 hours that the CEO of Canada Soccer had been on the ground in St- Etienne, he came to the conclusion that Bev Priestman needed to be suspended. We have seen some of that information. We fully support that it’s the right decision under the circumstances.”
Canada’s second game is against host France on Sunday in St-Etienne. Shoemaker said he’s comfortable with the defending women’s soccer champions continuing to compete in the Games.
But FIFA’s disciplinary committee is looking into the matter, and the gold medal Canada won on penalty kicks against Sweden in Tokyo is now under scrutiny. Priestman was Canada’s head coach there, too.
“There now appears to be information that could tarnish that Olympic performance in Tokyo,” Shoemaker said.
“It makes me ill. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that there could be something that calls into question … one of my favourite Olympic moments in history, that women’s team winning that gold medal against all odds in COVID restrictions.”
Shoemaker acknowledged the scandal impacted Canada’s image to start the Summer Games in Paris, but hoped it wouldn’t detract from what is expected to be a strong performance by the team as a whole.
“Subsequent findings involving individuals at Canada Soccer have been not only incredibly disturbing, but also all encompassing for us these last few days,” said COC president and Olympic rower Tricia Smith at the news conference.
“What we saw this week is not my experience of sport in Canada. It’s not who we are.”
Soccer’s misconduct overshadowed both the COC’s announcement Wednesday of flag-bearers Maude Charron and Andre De Grasse for the opening ceremonies, and also Friday’s ribbon-cutting to open Canada Olympic House in Paris.
“It’s sad. It’s surprising,” Olympic weightlifting champion Charron said Friday. “In my sport, we’re doing a lot of work to stay true and play fair. Every sport has different technique to do or different strategies. My job here as an athlete stays the same.
“I guess it stresses more a bit the athletes in soccer. But I can’t talk for them. I can only talk for me.”
— With files from Gemma Karstens-Smith
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2024