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Bev Priestman will not return as head coach of the Canadian women’s national team after an independent investigation commissioned by the Canadian Soccer Association found that she directed staff to use drones to spy on opponents, a plan that culminated in a scandal during the Last summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Priestman, along with former assistant coaches Jasmine Minder and Joey Lombardi, have been serving a one-year ban since July, when the scandal broke shortly before the start of the women’s soccer competition. Canada Soccer said in a statement Tuesday that the search for a new head coach will begin soon.
The coaching announcement was bundled with findings from the independent investigation conducted by Sonia Regenbogen of Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark, LLP, which confirmed reports that personnel from the men’s and women’s national teams were involved in a years-long espionage operation. The research focused on tournaments that took place over the past two years, with only the Paris Olympics and last summer’s Copa America explicitly mentioned.
At the Olympics, investigators concluded that women’s national team staff spied on New Zealand on July 20 and 22. Several members of the technical staff, whose names were redacted, watched footage from the first day, while video footage from the second day was eventually seized by local authorities after New Zealand alerted them. The researcher said players never viewed the footage.
As for the Copa America, investigators revealed that an unnamed staff member of the men’s national team piloted a drone to “inappropriately” record a training session in Orlando, Florida, likely before Canada’s match against Chile. The drone was spotted by detection software at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and although there appeared to be no footage, the problem was reported to CONMEBOL, which revoked that person’s credentials and fined Canada Soccer. The researchers described it as “very different from what happened at the Olympics.”
The researcher also found that unspecified Canada Soccer staffers organized a drone spying program during an unnamed competition from June 2022 to March 2024. Strikingly, however, the researchers said that “no information was presented in the investigation,” suggesting that women national team personnel used drones to spy on opponents during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics when Canada won gold. However, that finding came with the caveat that “the investigation was not a complete assessment of whether covert surveillance occurred during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.”
Several people did not participate in the survey, most of their names have been redacted. John Herdman, former head coach of the men’s and women’s national teams who is said to be the chief architect of Canada’s drone spying program, was unable to speak to investigators “due to scheduling conflicts,” though he’s not necessarily off the hook. The findings revealed that Canada Soccer has already opened proceedings targeting Herdman as it relates to their disciplinary code.
When did the scandal start?
New Zealand defender Rebekah Stott saw a drone fly over their training in Saint-Etienne, France, on July 19, six days before the opening day of the women’s football competition at the Paris Games. Stott, a drone fanatic, immediately alerted the team’s staff and they stopped training.
“We were just doing throw-ins or something and I was just waiting for Ali Riley to throw me the ball, and then I heard this noise,” Stott recalled this during an episode of The Women’s Game podcast. “I’m a bit of a drone enthusiast, I have one myself, so I hear this sound and I think, ‘Oh my god, is that a Mavic Pro?’ Anyway, I look to my left and sure enough, there’s a crazy drone there. I turned to our coach and thought, ‘Oh, there’s a drone.’ He left and spoke to our manager who got security.”
The incident was reported to local authorities, who arrested Joseph Lombardi later that day. The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) identified him as “a non-accredited analyst with Canada Soccer” in a statement on July 24, when the scandal broke. CBC reported that that week that Lombardi was actually an official member of the Canadian coaching staff for the tournament.
Lombardi was then sent home, as was assistant coach Jasmine Mander. Canadian women’s head coach Bev Preistman said she would step back before the team’s game against New Zealand on July 25 “to highlight our team’s commitment to integrity.” However, hours before kick-off, Priestman was suspended by Canada Soccer after they received new information indicating the head coach played a major role in orchestrating the drone spying operation.
What punishment did they suffer?
FIFA hit Canada with a six-point deduction and a $226,000 fine during the group stage. Priesterman, Mander and Lombardi were suspended for one year. The Canadian Olympic Committee appealed the points deduction to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but was unsuccessful. During the appeal process, it was revealed that Priestman argued in an email months earlier that “all the top 10 teams are doing it”.
How long has Canada been spying on other teams?
As Tuesday’s findings show, the drone spying was not limited to the Paris Olympics or to the women’s team. Herdman began implementing the approach during his time as women’s national coach from 2011 to 2018, with staff discussing the tactic as early as 2016 during the Concacaf U-17 Women’s Championship. according to TSN. He introduced the practice to Priestman, who coached the women’s U-17 and U-20 teams while Herdman was in charge of the senior team, and then continued the spying when he took over as head coach of the men’s team in 2018.
Most notably, the women’s team reportedly used drones to spy on Japan during the pandemic-postponed 2021 Tokyo Olympics. according to TSNwhen Priestman was in charge. Canada won gold at that tournament, the only major title won by both the men’s and women’s senior national teams. Players from the gold medal-winning team denied seeing drone footage during the match. Independent investigators said they had received no information about espionage during the Tokyo Games, but also admitted that this was not necessarily a subject of the investigation.
Herdman reportedly used drones to spy on Saint Kitts and Nevis in November 2018 and the U.S. Soccer Federation was aware of Herdman’s tactics as early as January 2021, according to ESPN. Canada also used drones to spy on Honduras ahead of a 2022 World Cup qualifier in September 2021. Things continued even after Herdman left his job in August 2023, with Canada Soccer’s new CEO Kevin Blue admitting in July that the federation was “aware” of drone use during last summer’s Copa America. Blue said new head coach Jesse Marsch disapproved of the strategy and that no one on the team ultimately saw the footage obtained by the drone.
What’s next?
While FIFA quickly investigated Canada’s drone use during the 2024 Olympics, it is unclear whether FIFA, Concacaf or other governing bodies will investigate the federation’s years-long spying tactics. Herdman remains an important figure, especially as the independent investigators’ findings revealed that he is currently the subject of a disciplinary proceeding with Canada Soccer. While the findings did not specify why the proceedings were opened, he has reportedly continued the espionage practice since taking over at MLS’ Toronto FC. According to athleticsHerdman’s Toronto team used drones to spy on Canadian Premier League side Forge FC in July ahead of the semifinals of the Canadian Championship, a tournament under the purview of Canada Soccer.