The crime of a man flewing illegal drones over the trainings of the New Zealand women’s soccer team in Saint-Etienne
The plot in Canadian soccer’s Olympic drone spying scandal thickens. The Canadian soccer teams use drones to spy on their opponents, according to a TSN report.
The head coach of the Canada team will sit out Thursday’s game because she was fired and sentenced for flying an illegal drone, as well as being found guilty of two other charges.
The COC has removed two staffers from the team, one of which was an analyst named Joseph Lombardi. The COC said that it was the man who flew the drones over the trainings.
The New Zealand team was practicing at the Auguste Dury stadium when a supervisor of the Olympic training sites in Saint-Etienne told police there was a drone hovering over them.
On two separate occasions, he “had effectively filmed the closed-door training of the New Zealand women’s team, with the help of a drone,” the statement read.
The footage taken on July 22 show the New Zealand players applying instructions given to them by their trainer, as well as images taken on July 20 — a previously unknown instance that he admitted during questioning — when they were training in the Michon stadium in Saint-Etienne.
The assistant trainer for the Canadian team was questioned by the prosecutors about what the drone pilot had said about his visit to the New Zealand team. She had no knowledge of the acts and was exonerated, the office said.
The maximum prison term for the crime is one year and a fine of 49,000 euros, which the man was charged with.
A statement from the prosecutor read that a man was sentenced to 8 months in prison and had his drones and electronic equipment taken from his room.
Canada Soccer: Comment on the drone spying tactics in 2019/2019 women’s soccer tournament and a potential investigation of the “systemic ethical shortcoming”
Kevin Blue, CEO of Canada Soccer, says the body is investigating the “systemic ethical shortcoming” but that the organization isn’t considering withdrawing the women’s team from the Games. Blue appealed to the team not to be further punished, as the players were unaware of the drone spying tactics. Meanwhile, FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Canada Soccer and Priestman.
According to the report, the team used the same tactics while winning the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the women’s world cup. The men’s national team also reportedly filmed practice sessions of the US men’s team in 2019 and a World Cup qualifier against Honduras in 2021.