The French, German and Zambian national women’s football teams have denied using drones to spy on opposition training sessions.

In an internal email, Canada head coach Bev Priestman, who has been suspended by FIFA for a year after admitting to using drone surveillance at the 2024 Paris Olympics, accused the top 10 teams of deploying the same covert methods.

“…for scouting it can be the difference between winning and losing and all top 10 teams do it,” Priestman wrote in an internal email dated March 20, 2024.

However, after the highest-ranked federations — Spain, France, Germany, USWNT, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Colombia, New Zealand, Nigeria, and Zambia — at the Paris Olympics were contacted by The Athletic, several denied this was the case and rebuked Priestman’s claims.

“We only wish to state that the French Federation is never using any spying methods on the opponents’ teams,” the French Football Federation (FFF) said. “We also add that, if the mail does exist, we strongly reject these baseless accusations.”

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Canada’s Olympic soccer spying scandal explained: What we know, who’s involved and what’s next

“Team Zambia does not use drones to spy on our opponents,” said a spokesperson for Team Zambia. “Our approach to match preparation…

The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Wednesday upheld a six-point Olympic tournament deduction for the Canadian women’s soccer team in a drone spying scandal, affirming FIFA’s choice to heavily limit the reigning gold medalist facing sharp questions about its tactics to engineer a repeat.

The dismissal of Canada’s appeal came hours before the entire field, with 12 teams split among three divisions, was set to compete in the final games of group play, a decisive moment with four teams to be eliminated by the end of Wednesday night.

It also came as FIFA released a full report of the findings that led to its decision to punish Canada for using a drone to watch New Zealand practice ahead of their Olympic opener. The report revealed a damning picture of Canada’s use of drones to surveil opposing training sessions.

Emails from Bev Priestman, Canada’s coach who was sent home from the Olympics as national officials tried to shield players from fallout, mentioned regular spying in both men’s and women’s soccer, which Priestman described in one correspondence as something that “can be the difference between winning and losing.”

An attorney for Priestman did not return a message seeking comment.

On the pitch, the immediate implications were stark for Canada, which lost the…

Bev Priestman’s dismissal from the Paris Olympics in the wake of the Canada spying scandal raises questions over the future — let alone the legacy — of a coach previously regarded as one of the most respected in the women’s international game.

In a press conference on Friday, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) chief executive David Shoemaker announced he has since learned of “previous drone use against opponents predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games”, which also risks tainting one of Canada’s proudest modern-day sporting achievements.

Their gold medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021 was Canada’s first in women’s football and earned Priestman back-to-back nominations for the Best FIFA Coach of the Year award. There will be no third act any time soon: FIFA disciplinary proceedings have resulted in Priestman’s suspension from any soccer-related activity for one year. Canada assistant coach Jasmine Mander and the staff member who flew the drone, Joseph Lombardi, are also suspended from soccer for one year. FIFA has deducted six points from the team’s Olympic group-stage total. Canada have lodged an appeal against the points deduction but, either way, the chances of a second successive gold feel slim.

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Canada, New Zealand and how an Olympics spying scandal…

Canada is appealing the six-point deduction levied by FIFA against the Olympic women’s soccer team that stemmed from a staffer flying a drone over New Zealand’s training sessions before the start of the Paris Games.

The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Soccer filed the appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday, arguing it “unfairly punishes the athletes for actions they had no part in and goes far beyond restoring fairness to the match against New Zealand.” A hearing will likely take place Tuesday, with the final decision expected midday Wednesday, CAS said in a news release. Canada plays Colombia on Wednesday at 9 p.m. in Nice (3 p.m. ET) in its final group stage game.

Canada defeated New Zealand and France in its first two games, but currently sits third in Group A with zero points because of the deduction. Canada could still advance out of the group stage with a win over Colombia, but a restoration of the six points would put the Canadians atop Group A entering the final game.

In addition to deducting six points from the team’s Olympic group stage total (the equivalent of two wins), FIFA suspended Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman and two other staffers for one year and issued a fine Saturday. Canada did not appeal the…

What initially seemed to be an isolated incident of drone espionage by an overzealous staffer at the Paris Olympics has evolved into a far wider spying scandal that risks staining Canada’s reputation in international soccer.

It has now come to light that this week’s revelations may have just been the tip of the iceberg. Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue told reporters on Friday that he feared this problem ran much deeper than he initially assumed.

This has many in international soccer wondering: what happens now? Will Canada Women, the reigning gold medalists, be removed from the competition? When did staff start leaning on drones for surveillance? How many people knew?

These are the questions that need answering as the scandal rumbles on.

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Was spying systemic within Canadian soccer culture?

That is seeming more likely as each day passes. Blue alluded to this on Friday when he said he feared the incident was not isolated.

“The more I learn about this specific matter, the more concerned I get about a potential long-term, deeply embedded systemic culture of this type of thing occurring, which is obviously completely unacceptable,” Blue said. “I’ve been receiving a lot of anecdotal feedback about the history of the issue as it relates to both programs, as it relates to the…

FIFA suspended Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman for one year, deducted six points from the team’s Olympic group stage total and issued a fine on Saturday in response to Canada flying a drone over New Zealand’s training sessions before the start of the Games.

The punishment immediately and severely hurt the chances for a second consecutive gold medal for Canada, which won the Olympic tournament in Tokyo in 2021, a run that was immediately questioned as the drone scandal emerged.

The user of the drone in the incident that kicked off a large-scale investigation into Canada Soccer, team analyst Joseph Lombardi, was suspended for one year, as was assistant coach Jasmine Mander. The chairman of the FIFA appeal committee issued the decision.

FIFA found violations of article 13 of its code of conduct and article 6.1 of the Olympic football tournament regulations, both related to fair play. FIFA also noted that the decision was made — very quickly — because of its impact on the outcome of the ongoing Olympic tournament. Canada, in Group A, won its opener against New Zealand 2-1, and plays host France on Sunday.

FIFA’s fine is 200,000 Swiss francs, equivalent to $312,700 Canadian (or roughly $225,000 U.S.), another blow for a federation that has struggled financially…

Let’s say you’re a team preparing for a major football tournament.

You’re training, maybe doing some shooting drills, or practising a set-piece routine. You hear a buzzing noise. What is it? A helicopter? No, too quiet. A swarm of bees? No, too loud. Oh, it’s a drone. Someone is flying a drone above you. Bit weird.

Who is controlling the drone, and why is it up there? What would your instinct be? Maybe it’s some mischievous local youths, who have nicked their dad’s Mavic Pro and are amusing themselves. Maybe it’s a filmmaker, collecting some stock footage of what they thought was just a field. Maybe it’s an oblivious amateur enthusiast who has no idea an elite sports team are busily preparing for some big games.

Would most people’s first thought honestly be, ‘That simply must be one of our upcoming opponents spying on us’? You would think the majority of the planet’s residents simply aren’t that paranoid, that their instinct is not that this is all part of some nefarious spying mission from another team to gain some notional advantage.

Broadly because the instinct is to ask the question: why?

This scenario has the Canadian women’s Olympic football team tumbling into chaos after it emerged that the drone caught flying over a training session for their…

It was a stunning play that deserved to be celebrated with all the appropriate fanfare.

Canada’s Jessie Fleming delivered a brilliant pass through a crowded pitch inside Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne. The ball was perfectly placed into the open space in front of forward Evelyne Viens, who had just come onto the field. All it took was one touch at the right angle for Viens to drill the ball past New Zealand’s goalkeeper, giving Canada a well-deserved lead in their opening match of the Paris Olympic Games.

The 79th-minute goal helped Canada to win their first game of the tournament, a positive first step on what they hope will be the path to repeating the gold medal success they enjoyed in Tokyo at the 2021 Games.

The assist coming from 26-year-old Fleming, who has filled the captaincy vacancy left behind by Canadian great Christine Sinclair, was a symbolic demonstration that this new generation is willing to carry the torch towards a new chapter for her national team.

But Thursday’s 2-1 victory, and any subsequent success in Paris, will be remembered with an ugly footnote due to a cheating scandal that erupted days earlier. It involved a Canadian soccer analyst twice using a drone to spy on New Zealand before their opening clash, led to the Canada women’s head…

Canada removed women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman from the team for the rest of the Olympics on Friday morning in Paris after learning of drone use against opponents that predates this summer’s Games.

The Canadian Olympic Committee’s announcement, which came hours after Canada began its Olympics with a 2-1 win over New Zealand, comes amid a spying scandal that has overshadowed the start of the women’s soccer tournament. Priestman did not coach against New Zealand after a staff member for Canada was caught flying a drone over New Zealand’s training session on Monday.

Priestman is suspended for the remainder of the Olympics and until an independent external review is complete, the Canadian Olympic Committee said.

“Over the past 24 hours, additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” Canada Soccer CEO and general secretary Kevin Blue said in a statement. “In light of these new revelations, Canada Soccer has made the decision to suspend women’s national soccer team head coach, Bev Priestman for the remainder of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and until the completion of our recently announced independent external review.”

Canada Soccer said assistant coach Andy Spence will…

Are not even the Olympic Games sacrosanct?

Yeah, you’re right. Probably not, given their long history of judging corruption, state boycotts and widespread doping.

But the news which broke on Tuesday, three days before the opening ceremony and hours before the first action in the 2024 Games’ football tournament, meant that the cherished Olympic values of fair play stood in tatters even before organisers emblazoned that message across the Parisien sky and the River Seine.

That it was Canada who performed such an egregious breach of the rules — by all stereotypes a country known for its people being polite, respectful, laidback and just terribly nice — only adds to the ironic drama.

There are five rings in the Olympic logo — take just two of them intertwined, and they resemble a pair of binoculars.

So this is what happened…

On Tuesday, at a training session ahead of their opening match of the group stage in Saint-Etienne on Thursday, staff members from the New Zealand women’s football team noticed a drone hovering above them.

They called the on-site police, who detained the device’s operator, who was later revealed to be a staff member from the Canadian…