2024 Paris Olympics: U.S. Soccer has apparently been aware of Canada’s drone spying incidents for years
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The Canadian soccer spying scandal apparently didn’t come as a surprise to the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Canada’s Olympic women's soccer team was caught using a drone to spy on training sessions in Paris ahead of the Games last week, which prompted a six-point deduction in group play and a one-year ban for head coach Bev Priestman.
U.S. Soccer, according to ESPN’s Sam Borden, has been aware of Canada’s alleged spying tactics for quite some time — even when Canada attempted to spy on American teams. The federation simply never reported it to a governing body, in part due to larger projects the two countries have been working on, including the joint bid with Mexico for the 2026 World Cup.
“It wasn’t worth it with so many bigger-ticket issues out there,” a source told ESPN. “But that doesn’t mean it didn’t matter.”
There have been several instances in recent years when U.S. Soccer officials claims to have caught someone spying on practices. In 2021, per the report, security repeatedly found a man watching a closed men’s team practice at IMG Academy in Florida. When the man was eventually confronted, he admitted that he worked for Canada Soccer.
A Canadian staffer was caught flying a drone over a New Zealand practice in Paris earlier this month before their game to kick off group play at the Olympics. That staffer was later charged by French police and sent home from the Games, along with Priestman and another assistant. Priestman self-imposed a one-game suspension before she was sent home, and she did not attend the team's 2-1 win over New Zealand. Assistant coach Andy Spence will lead Canada throughout the rest of the Olympics.
A report from TSN this week also alleged that the spying has been going on for years. The women’s team allegedly used drones to spy on opponents at the 2021 Games in Tokyo, where it won the gold medal, and in 2022 while trying to qualify for the Women’s World Cup. The men’s team allegedly flew a drone over Honduras’ training session last year and attempted to do so during training sessions ahead of Copa América earlier this summer.
The Canadian women’s team will take on France next on Sunday afternoon. It’ll wrap up group play against Colombia next week.
