If you think you had an eventful week at work, spare a moment for the women who play for Canada’s soccer team. On Sunday, they were the defending Olympic champions, ready to chase another gold medal at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. Within five days, they were not defending a medal as much as fighting for their reputations. Their head coach and two staff members had all been banished before the Olympic flame was alight. At a news conference on Friday morning in Paris, Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker told reporters it made him “feel ill” to think the legacy of this team’s gold medal in Tokyo could be tarnished by the drone scandal.
How did we get here and what is happening next? Postmedia explains below.
What just happened to the Canadian women’s soccer team?
On Aug. 6, 2021, the Canadian women’s soccer team reached the mountaintop. With the stellar goalkeeping of Stephanie Labbe – and a clutch penalty kick from Julia Grosso – the team beat Sweden for the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
That was the title they were seeking to defend when they arrived in France this month. As they prepared, many storylines focused on challenges placed on the team by departures, including Labbe, but especially the program’s long-time superstar, Christine Sinclair.
On Monday, that all changed.
A drone was spotted flying overhead as New Zealand’s women’s team worked out on the field below. According to a report in the Globe and Mail, French police followed the flight path all the way down to a man who, it turned out, was connected to the Canadian side.
From there, things moved quickly. On Tuesday night – early Wednesday morning in Paris – the Canadian Olympic Committee issued a media release saying it was made aware that “a non-accredited member of the Canada Soccer support team” had been detained by police.
In a subsequent news release, the COC described Joseph Lombardi as “an unaccredited analyst” with Canada Soccer and said he had been sent home. Jasmine Mander was the assistant coach to whom he reported, and she was also banished.
Bev Priestman, the head coach, decided to “remove herself” from coaching in the team’s opening group stage game, against New Zealand, on Thursday.
Who were the staff members?
A CBC report offered more context for Lombardi, who held a loftier position in the game than “unaccredited analyst” might suggest. The CBC reported Lombardi was director of the Canada Soccer’s Women’s Excel program, which helped create a pathway for young players to the very top of the sport’s domestic food chain.
According to the Globe and Mail, text messages linked Lombardi to Mander, the assistant coach. (French security has been a significant topic of discussion leading into the Games, and it has been reported Lombardi received an eight-month suspended sentence.)
“By no means did I direct the individuals,” Priestman would say.
“I was persuaded by the fact that Bev Priestman had no involvement, no knowledge in the incident,” COC chief executive officer David Shoemaker told reporters during a call on Wednesday. “Those who had the direct involvement in the incident we removed from Team Canada.”
So: What happened on Thursday?
Canada rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to beat New Zealand 2-1 in the opening game of its group stage. Assistant coach Andy Spence oversaw the team while Priestman served her self-imposed one-game suspension – from her hotel, it was said.
“We are not cheats,” said Canadian defender Vanessa Gilles, according to the wire service Agence-France Presse. “It was very hard, but we knew how to be united.”
Right: And then?
Hours after Canada’s win over New Zealand – it was after midnight in Paris; early on Friday morning – the COC issued another media release. Canada Soccer suspended Priestman, and the COC was therefore removing her from the Olympic team for the rest of the Games.
“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 chief executive Kevin Blue said in the release.
The suspension, he said, would continue “until the completion of our recently announced independent external review.”
What was the “additional” information?
It was not made explicitly clear in the COC news release, but on Thursday night in Canada, TSN reporter Rick Westhead published a series of revelations about Canadian soccer and an alleged appreciation of international espionage.
Westhead reported Canadian soccer teams had leaned into spying on opponents during closed-door practice sessions for years, including the lead-up to Canada winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics. One source – who had been granted anonymity – told Westhead one Canadian coach filmed two Japanese practices.
“It was a little bit tricky during that time, given the fact that we were under a lot more restrictions,” the source told Westhead, “but there were ways to kind of sneak out of the hotel without people knowing.”
Bev Priestman was the Canadian head coach in Tokyo.
What happens next?
That is not clear. There are still plenty of questions that need answers.
“This is awful, the worst-case scenario,” former national team player Amy Walsh told TSN. “I feel sick to my stomach, genuinely nauseated. I understand when you get to a high level, people will be ruthless and do whatever they can to gain a competitive advantage, but this is so far over the line.”
For the moment, Canada is scheduled to play its second game of the 2024 Olympics on Sunday, against France. Spence will be at the helm, in place of Priestman. Two other members of the Canadian staff will, presumably, be back at home.
The reputation of the team – the golden team of Tokyo 2020 – is in tatters.