Canadian Soccer Coach Booted From Olympics as Spying Scandal Explodes

There’s rot in the maple tree.

The Canadian Olympic soccer spying scandal intensified Thursday night with a pair of reports from outlets in Canada. And now the team’s head coach has been ejected from the Paris Olympics.

First, the CBC reported that the “unaccredited analyst” who was caught piloting a drone over the New Zealand women’s practices was in fact a senior official in Canada’s soccer federation. The official, Joseph Lombardi, was sent home from the Paris Olympics after he was arrested for the illegal drone and admitted he was using it to spy on New Zealand’s tactics.

Less than two hours later, TSN reported, citing sources, that the spying was no isolated act, but was in fact a core part of Canada’s national soccer program, dating back years.

Canada has punched above its weight as a soccer country in recent years. The women’s team won gold at the last Olympics three years ago in Tokyo and bronze at the previous two Olympics, and the men made a surprising run to the semifinals at the Copa América earlier this summer.

The men’s and women’s teams have both spied on opponents’ practices for years, including the gold medal–winning women’s team at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, according to the TSN report.

Head coach Bev Priestman has been suspended for the rest of the Olympics following Thursday evening’s reports. Priestman had previously removed herself from coaching duties from Thursday’s game against New Zealand, which Canada ultimately won 2–1. Andy Spence, who coached Thursday, will be the women’s coach for the rest of the Olympics.

The spying appeared to be an open secret in women’s soccer, with opponents from Honduras and Panama catching the drones in recent years. Panama filed a complaint to Concacaf, according to the TSN story.

Priestman denied directing the spying program earlier this week, but also avoided questions about what she knew about it. Every involved federation—FIFA, the IOC, and Soccer Canada—now says it’s investigating.