Why did the Canadian women’s soccer team film at the 2023 World Cup? The drone spying scandal and the Olympic team’s suspension

More troubling: the report alleges that Canadian team staff and contractors were told that drone spying was part of the job — and that their positions were threatened if they didn’t comply. A source said that the staff hid behind bushes, trees, and fencing to film the Japanese team at the Olympics. Another Canada Soccer contractor said when they refused to partake in the filming scheme for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, they were replaced by a staffer who would.

It would’ve been a big enough scandal had this been a one-off, but TSN’s report cites sources close to the matter saying the team used the same tactics during the women’s team’s gold medal run at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and a Women’s World Cup qualifier game against Panama in 2022. The men’s national team also reportedly filmed practice sessions of the US men’s team in 2019 and a World Cup qualifier against Honduras in 2021.

We are considering getting to the bottom of it in a professional and thorough way. And then we will make decisions on what to do about it once we have information that’s been substantiated,” Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue said in a press conferenceFriday.

The coach of the Canadian women’s national soccer team has been suspended from their sport for one year because of a spy scandal, it was announced Saturday.

In addition, Canada’s Olympic team — which is defending the gold medal won in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 — will be penalized with a deduction of six points from its group stage total, FIFA said, a move that essentially guarantees the team will be eliminated from contention.

The decision, issued Saturday by the sport’s international governing body, follows revelations of spying that have roiled the women’s Olympic soccer tournament, a premiere international event that is second only to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in importance.

On Friday, when the details began to come to light about the spying, the head of the Canadian Olympic Committee, David Shoemaker, said, “We continue to be shocked and disappointed.” He told reporters that they feel very much frustrated, and that all Canadians feel the same way.

A New Zealand Player’s View on a Canadian Soccer Player in Stade-d’Arc-de-Edmonton

The footage taken on July 22 show the New Zealand players applying instructions given to them by their trainer, as well as images taken on July 20 — a previously unknown instance that he admitted during questioning — when they were training in the Michon stadium in Saint-Etienne.

Canada’s women’s coach, Beverly Priestman, initially said she would voluntarily sit out of Canada’s Thursday match against New Zealand. (Canada won 2-1.)