Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue said: Canada Previous major tournaments have used drones to try to spy on opponents, including this month’s match for the men’s national team. Copa America.
During a virtual media availability on Friday, Blue said he received “new inside information” on Thursday that caused him to think about the recent espionage by the women’s team. What was unearthed last week at the Olympics,These are not isolated incidents.
“The more I learn about this particular issue, the more concerned I become about a potentially long-term and deeply ingrained institutional culture of this kind of thing happening. This is clearly completely unacceptable,” he said.
“I have received significant anecdotal feedback about the history of issues related to both programs, as well as the current situation with the men’s team. I am aware of an instance where drone use was attempted during the Copa America. My current understanding is that the fact pattern in that instance is significantly different from what occurred here, particularly with regard to the potential impact on the integrity of the competition.”
Kevin Blue has called the Canadian women’s national team spying scandal a “systemic” ethical failing, suggesting the Canadian Soccer Association is well aware of espionage outside the Olympics.
— Joshua Cloke (@joshuakloke) July 26, 2024
“The Canadian Soccer Federation is conducting an internal investigation to fully understand the situation and to find out if other similar situations exist,” Blue said. He maintained that the players were not involved in any unethical conduct and that the federation’s self-imposed punishment should be considered sufficient.
“We feel it would be unfair to our players to deduct points in this tournament, especially given the significant and immediate steps we have taken to address the situation,” he said.
Blue said that in light of the new findings, the organization had taken steps “to ensure that the team will be able to compete in this tournament without any questions being raised about its performance after the fact.”
One of those measures included firing women’s team coach Bev Priestman. The remainder of the Olympics were suspended After the Canadian Olympic Committee learned drones were being used against opponents even before this summer’s Olympics.
The announcement of Priestman’s suspension came just hours after the team was due to start the game. Olympic The team that beat New Zealand 2-1 was On Monday he sounded the alarm about drone use. Priestman did not coach against New Zealand after spotting a plane over training, which resulted in two team members being sent home.
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Regarding the men’s team’s use of drones at the Copa, Blue said men’s national team coach Jesse Marsh found out about the spying after the fact.
“He explained to me that he immediately and strongly condemned it and communicated that to both the current staff and the former coaching staff that are still with us,” Blue said Friday.
Marsh did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
John Herdman, who coached Canada’s women’s team until 2018 and the men’s team until 2023, has pledged to cooperate as much as he can with the federation’s review.
“This is the Olympics. It’s the biggest event on earth,” said Hardman, who now coaches. Major League Soccer “We’re not going to let it go,” Toronto FC head coach Joseph McClellan told reporters at a press conference on Friday.
“This is a sporting event that requires extremely high integrity and we must ensure that this is maintained at all times. I have always approached major events such as the Olympics and the World Cup with integrity in mind and the ability to compete at the highest level by following the rules and process.”
“I will cooperate with the Canadian Soccer Association in their review to the extent that I can, but I feel confident in that respect based on my experience as an Olympic and World Cup manager. We are not involved in any of those activities.”
Blue reiterated that Andy Spence will lead the women’s team during the Olympics, but said his role as team coach after the tournament was unclear.
Stephanie Labbe, Canada’s starting goaltender at the 2020 Olympics and a gold medal winner, defended herself and her play on Friday, saying her success came from studying game video and making good guesses.
If anyone wants to talk about penalties, I studied them hard the night before every game. I watched videos of players taking penalties in national team and club games. I made my own guesses based on that information. I did not look at drone footage. Don’t confuse good goalkeeping with cheating.
— Stephanie Labbe (@stephlabbe1) July 26, 2024
Later that day, team legend Christine Sinclair also released a statement on Instagram, defending her play and the integrity of her teammates.
“It is unfortunate that our national team players had to endure reprehensible behavior by a section of staff while attempting to defend our gold medal,” she said. “I want to be absolutely clear that in my 23 years as a national team player, drone footage has never been shown or discussed at any team or individual meeting that I have attended.”
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(Photo: Eduardo Muñoz/AFP via Getty Images)
