The Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed Canada’s appeal of a six-point penalty against its Olympic women’s soccer team due to a drone spying scandal on Wednesday.
The penalty, issued by FIFA on Saturday, followed the discovery that a Canadian team analyst used a drone to spy on New Zealand’s practices, an incident that garnered significant international attention last week.
In addition to the one-year suspension of head coach Beverly Priestman and team officials Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander from all football-related activities, the team was also fined $313,764.80 CAD (200,000 CHF).
Read More
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Canada Soccer sought to appeal the decision on Monday, requesting a reduction or removal of the point deduction.
However, following a hearing on Tuesday, the arbitration court upheld the penalty without immediately explaining its decision.
The court indicated that a more detailed explanation would be provided later, without the urgency of games on the same day.
Read More
Canada’s appeal was dismissed just hours before their must-win final group stage match against Colombia at 3 p.m. ET in Nice.
Colombia currently leads Group A with three points, while Canada is in third place with zero points, despite having won two games in France.
If Canada draws or loses the game, they will be eliminated. The women’s soccer team needs to go undefeated in this tournament if they want to earn a gold again this year.
Meanwhile, many people are reacting to the appeal being dismissed on social media and supporting the team.
“We were never winning that appeal but we are still winning this tournament. Let’s go!! 🇨🇦 ⚽️,” one X user said.
“You don’t win three straight Olympic medals with video footage. You get there with Sinclair, Matheson, Buchanan, Fleming, Beckie, and all the women before them,” added another X user.
“Whatever happens today forever proud of this team,” one X user said.
