Canadian government halts funding for 3 people tied to Olympic soccer drone spying

Caption

Canada's head coach Bev Priestman is pictured during a Women's World Cup match between Canada and Ireland in Perth, Australia, in July 2023. / AP

NPR is in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. For more of our coverage from the games head to our latest updates.

PARIS — Canada’s sports minister said the government would withhold funding for the three suspended soccer officials tied to Team Canada's use of spying drones, as fallout from the scandal widens.

After it surfaced that drones were used spy on Canada’s opponents during training sessions at the Paris Olympics, soccer’s governing body FIFA suspended the women’s coach Bev Priestman for a year. Two other Team Canada employees were removed and also received a one-year ban.

Sports minister Carla Qualtrough issued a strongly worded statement on Sunday in announcing that Sport Canada, which funds the women’s program, would halt its financial backing for the three Canada Soccer officials for the duration of their FIFA sanctions.

"There is a deeply concerning pattern of behaviour at Canada Soccer," Qualtrough said. "We must, and will, get to the bottom of this. The government of Canada will closely monitor the investigation and outcomes of the Canada Soccer process that is underway."

Funding to the overall women’s program would not be affected, the minister's office confirmed in a statement to NPR.

“Sport Canada is in the process of determining the exact amount of funding to be withheld. It will be specific to suspended Canada Soccer officials," it read.

Canada is the defending gold medalist and ranked eighth in the world. Their drone usage first surfaced last week; allegations that their staff spied on lower-ranked New Zealand on the eve of the countries’ opening group match game initially culminated in the arrest and eight-month prison sentence of a man linked to the Canadian team. The man, an analyst for the team before his firing, "had effectively filmed the closed-door training of the New Zealand women’s team, with the help of a drone," French prosecutors said in a statement.

Another FIFA punishment included penalizing Canada 6 points in the Olympic soccer tournament, which all but guarantees the team won’t make it out of group play.

Canada Soccer, which suspended coach Priestman for the remainder of the Paris Games tournament, said it launched an independent external review of the incident. Assistant coach Andy Spence is leading the team for the rest of the Olympics.

There are indications that the spying has persisted for years leading up to the Paris scandal.

"This issue has caused significant distraction and embarrassment for Team Canada and all Canadians here in Paris and at home," Qualtrough wrote. "It is deeply regrettable."

"As events continue to unfold on this issue," she continued, "I encourage Canadians to cheer on all our incredible Olympic athletes. They have worked hard and deserve our unwavering support."