Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive officer David Shoemaker says the head coach of the national women’s soccer team was likely aware drones were used to spy on another team’s practices in France.
Shoemaker made the comments hours after Bev Priestman was suspended from the Olympic Games early Friday morning.
“One of the key pieces of information was the conclusion from Canada Soccer that she needed to be suspended, based on their accumulation of facts,” Shoemaker said at a news conference at Canada Olympic House.
“I’ve seen some of them, some of the information they have, and we’ve gathered some additional information ourselves that made me conclude that she was highly likely to have been aware of the incident here in St. Etienne.”
Two staff members were kicked off the soccer team earlier this week after reports a drone was used to spy on two New Zealand practices.
Priestman voluntarily removed herself from Canada’s 2-1 win over New Zealand in St-Etienne to open the Olympic tournament and said she didn’t direct individuals to spy on New Zealand.
The decision to kick Priestman out of the Games was made at the recommendation of Canada Soccer’s CEO Kevin Blue, who said more information had recently come to light about previous incidents of drone spying predating the Olympic Games in Paris.
Canada’s second game is against host France on Sunday in St-Etienne.
Shoemaker said he’s comfortable with the defending women’s soccer champions continuing to compete in the Games.
He acknowledged the scandal tarnished Canada’s image to start the Summer Games in Paris, but hoped it wouldn’t detract from what is expected to be a strong performance by the team as a whole.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2024.
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