Olympics drone inquiry shows unacceptable pattern, Canada Soccer says

Olympics drone inquiry shows unacceptable pattern, Canada Soccer says (Image Reuters)

An independent review of drone use by a staff member of Canada's women's soccer team at this year's Paris Olympics showed a "pattern of unacceptable culture" and lack of oversight, Canada Soccer said on Friday. Canada's women's team were engulfed in a spying scandal at the Games after New Zealand's team said their training session was disrupted by a drone flown by a Canada staff member.

Canada were docked six points in the Olympic tournament while head coach Bev Priestman, who steered them to gold at the Tokyo Games three years before, was banned for a year by world soccer's governing body FIFA. Canada reached the quarter-finals where they lost to Germany.

"Our initial review of the conclusions of the independent investigator reveals that the drone incident in Paris was a symptom of a past pattern of an unacceptable culture and insufficient oversight within the national teams," Canada Soccer CEO and General Secretary Kevin Blue said in a statement.

Blue said Canada Soccer would reveal "key conclusions" from the report within a week and would outline the next steps the organisation will take to address the findings.

Priestman apologised and took accountability for the incident, as Canadian media reported that both of the country's senior teams may have used drones and spied for years. The men's team qualified the World Cup for the first time in 36 years in 2022.

Peter Augruso, board chair for Canada Soccer, said they were committed to "renewing" the organisation following the embarrassing incident.

"We know that more needs to be done and change takes time," he said.