Canada’s women football coach Ben Priestman has been suspended from coaching duties for one year and the Canadian side has also been penalised six points during the ongoing 2024 Paris Olympic Games by FIFA after thorough investigation about the usage of a drone to spy the opponent’s practice session. (More Sports News|Full Olympic Coverage)
The governing body has handed down one of the biggest punishments in the history of Olympic women’s football. They have banned three coaches and also fined the association close to $350,000.
The investigation that went through after Canada’s group stage opponents New Zealand reported a drone that was flying over their closed practice session ahead of the Olympic opener.
Assistant coach Joseph Lombardi, was caught by the police officials in France for operating the drone days prior to the first game.
The Canadian side won the opening fixture 2-1. However, they will now have the three points removed with another three more deducted - which will eventually put their gold medal defence in serious jeopardy.
The punishments also make very hard for the team to go through to the quarter-finals of the event with them potentially not having more than three points at the end of the group stage.
