Canada women’s head coach Beverly Priestman will not be on the sidelines for her team’s opening 2024 Olympics match. The manager, however, is not sick or dealing with some sort of injury. Instead, Canada has come under fire for allegedly spying on their first opponents of the upcoming tournament.
An uncredited member of the Canadian women’s national team allegedly flew drones over New Zealand’s practice on two separate occasions. Both incidents occurred within the last week. The two teams face off on Thursday, July 25. It is the opening match of Group A in the competition. Hosts France and Colombia are also in the group as well.
According to reports, the drone was first spotted by New Zealand team members on July 19. Some assumed the incident was perhaps just an accident. Nevertheless, the drone was once again spotted over New Zealand’s training facility three days later. Olympic officials were immediately made aware of the situation.
French authorities then detained the drone operator, believed to be Joseph Lombardi. Lombardi is an uncredited analyst with Canada Soccer. Canada has since removed him from the team. Jasmine Mander, an assistant coach to Priestman, is also returning home. Lombardi supposedly reports directly to Mander regularly.
Due to the series of incidents, Priestman has officially announced that she has “voluntarily withdrawn” from the match against New Zealand. “On behalf of our entire team, I first and foremost want to apologize to the players and staff at New Zealand Football and to the players on Team Canada. This does not represent the values that our team stands for,” stated Priestman.
“I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program. Accordingly, to emphasize our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily withdraw from coaching the match on Thursday. In the spirit of accountability, I do this with the interest of both teams in mind and to ensure everyone feels that the sportsmanship of this game is upheld.”
New Zealand’s Olympic Committee also announced that they are “deeply shocked and disappointed” by the incident. Team officials also revealed that Canada has personally apologized for the events and is undergoing an internal investigation on the matter.
The Canucks are the reigning Olympic champions after their triumph at the tournament in 2021. Canada topped powerhouse Sweden in the final in Japan on penalty kicks. New Zealand, on the other hand, finished bottom of Group G during the previous games, a group that also featured the USWNT. Canada currently ranks eighth in the world by FIFA, 20 spots above New Zealand.
The upcoming matchup between the two teams will be the opening women’s soccer match of the 2024 Summer Olympics. After facing New Zealand, Canada will play hosts France on July 28. Priestman will be back on the sidelines for the game. The Canucks will then finish off Group A with a matchup against 22nd-ranked Colombia on July 31.
PHOTOS: IMAGO
