MARSEILLE, France — The Olympics can be a whirlwind, with one event rolling right into the next. But the rapid investigation — and severe punishment — of Canada‘s women’s soccer team for spying on an opponent’s closed practice session has remained a dominant, if complex, storyline.
Here’s everything you need to know about the situation.
What’s the basic timeline of this?
On Monday, July 22, New Zealand‘s women’s soccer team reported to French police that a drone had been flying over their practice sessions in Saint-Étienne. French authorities were able to trace the drone back to Joseph Lombardi, a staff member of Canada Soccer. Canada and New Zealand were set to play each other on Thursday.
On Wednesday, July 24, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) said it had sent home Lombardi and the assistant coach to whom he reported, Jasmine Mander. Head coach Beverly Priestman released a statement that while she did not “direct” the staffers who operated the drone, she was “voluntarily” removing herself from coaching in the game and apologized to New Zealand for behavior that she said “does not represent the values that our team stands for.” Canada Soccer announced an investigation…
