John Herdman, the former head coach of both the Canada men’s and women’s national soccer teams, is becoming a central figure in a brewing scandal over Canada Soccer’s attempts to spy on opponents that was uncovered shortly before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris.
News broke on Wednesday that Canada’s women’s national team sent a drone over New Zealand’s training sessions on multiple occasions before the teams’ opening game of the competition on Thursday, which Canada won 2-1. FIFA have since docked Canada six points, banned head coach Bev Preistman and assistant coaches Jasmine Mander and Joseph Lombardi for a year and fined the Canadian Soccer Association $226,000 for that specific incident. Since the initial story broke, though, several reports have emerged that spying has been a years-long habit for both Canada’s men’s and women’s national teams.
ESPN reported on Saturday that the U.S. Soccer Federation was aware of Canada’s attempts to spy on them, including in January 2021 when both countries’ men’s teams were training at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Instead of sending a drone on that occasion, a Canada Soccer staff member pretended to be on the IMG Academy’s payroll while watching a U.S….
