Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker said new information from Soccer Canada showed suspended women’s head coach Bev Priestman was likely aware of the drone use that has caused a scandal at the Paris Olympics.
The COC removed head coach Priestman on Thursday following her suspension by Canada Soccer following complaints from New Zealand that Canada flew drones over two of their training sessions. Assistant Andy Spence will coach Canada for the remainder of the Games.
Shoemaker also said he is comfortable with Canada’s women’s team remaining in Paris to defend their Olympic gold medal amid rumblings that the team should be disqualified over the drone scandal that has thrust the team into the spotlight.
“One of the key pieces of information was the conclusion from Canada Soccer that [Priestman] needed to be suspended based on their accumulation of facts,” Shoemaker said during Canada’s opening news conference on Friday.
“I’ve seen some of the information they have, and we gathered some additional information ourselves that made me conclude that she was highly likely to have been aware of the incidents here.”
