Canada soccer's use of drones could go back years, include men's national team

PARIS − The use of drones by Canadian soccer teams to spy on opponents appears to trace back well before these 2024 Olympic Games, including an attempt during this summer’s run to Copa America semifinals by the country's men's national team.

That’s according to Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue, who on a media call Friday said he had heard anecdotes that suggest "a potential long term and deeply embedded, systemic culture of this type of thing," according to quotes published by Canadian Soccer Daily.

In a shocking and scandalous prelude to the Paris Olympics, women’s national team coach Bev Priestman has been removed and two staff members – assistant Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi – sent home by the Canadian Olympic Committee amid allegations of drone surveillance by the team.

TSN reported that Lombardi was caught by French police retrieving a drone that had been flying over practice being conducted by the women’s team from New Zealand, Canada’s opening Olympic opponent.

"Team support members immediately reported the incident to police, leading to the drone operator, who has been identified as a support staff member of the wider Canadian women's football team, to be detained," the New Zealand Olympic Committee said in a statement.

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Canada beat New Zealand 2-1 on Thursday.

The revelations in France are expanding suspicions about the Canadian men’s soccer program as well as the women's team. TSN cited two unnamed sources as saying both had participated in such activity for years, including the 2021 Olympics, during which the Canadian women won gold.

On Friday, Blue told reporters that he was aware of attempted drone use during the recently played men’s Copa America tournament in which Canada outperformed its CONCACAF rivals and finished fourth behind only Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay.

Blue said that Canada’s men’s coach, American Jesse Marsch, "explained to me that he denounced it immediately and forcefully and has communicated that to his staff."

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