As the Canadian women’s soccer team gears up for the Paris Olympics, two staff members, including an assistant coach, have been implicated in a scheme to spy on the New Zealand national team’s practices.
Team Canada have removed assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi from the Olympic team and have sent them back to Canada.
On Tuesday, French authorities were notified of a drone that was seen flying over the New Zealand women’s soccer training session, which led to the drone operator’s detainment.
The drone operator was identified as Joseph Lombardi, a non-accredited member of the Canadian women’s team’s support staff.
Lombardi is believed to have attempted to record the New Zealand women’s team practicing on July 19th, and on July 22nd ahead of Canada’s July 25 game against New Zealand.
The Canadian Olympic Committee said that they were shocked by the incident and apologized to the New Zealand soccer team.
“The Canadian Olympic Committee stands for fair-play and we are shocked and disappointed. We offer our heartfelt apologies to New Zealand Football, to all the players affected, and to the New Zealand Olympic Committee,” reads the COC statement.
Head Coach Bev Priestman offered to sit out of Canada’s game against New Zealand on Wednesday, a decision that the COC accepted.
“I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program,” said Priestman.
“Accordingly, to emphasize our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily withdraw from coaching the match on Thursday. In the spirit of accountability, I do this with the interests of both teams in mind and to ensure everyone feels that the sportsmanship of this game is upheld.”
True North reached out to Team Canada for comment, though no response was received.
The Liberal government’s minister of sport and physical activity Carla Qualtrough emphasized that the spying scandal does not reflect Canadian values and supported the sanctions placed on Lombardi and Mander.
“Fair play is the highest principle of sport. The actions of those involved do not reflect Canada’s values or the values of sport,” said Qualtrough on X.
“When rules are broken, there must be consequences. I support the sanctions being imposed by the Canadian Olympic Committee, their apologies to New Zealand, and the decision of Head Coach Bev Priestman.”
The Canada women’s soccer spying scandal throws a wrench into the team’s attempt to repeat as Olympic gold medalists.
Canada’s women’s soccer team placed first at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, beating out the competitive American team who placed third, and Sweden who lost to Canada in the final match to place second.