Canada Soccer drone scandal: NDP calls for committee investigation

OTTAWA — The suspended head coach of Canada’s women’s soccer team could be summoned to Parliament next month to explain how the team was caught cheating by flying a drone over an opponent’s practice before the Paris Olympics last month.

As first reported by TSN, NDP MP Niki Ashton sent a motion to the clerk of the House of Commons heritage committee on Wednesday, asking Bev Priestman to appear before the committee before the end of September.

She also wants former head coach John Herdman, analyst Joseph Lombardi and assistant coach Jasmine Mander to be called up.

“This is about Canada’s reputation and, based on recent reports, it doesn’t seem to be limited to what happened at the Paris Olympics,” Ashton said in an interview with The Canadian Press on Thursday.

“It seems to be a broader issue when it comes to the women’s football team.”

On July 22, Lombardi was arrested by French police in Paris after recovering a drone that had been spotted flying over a New Zealand women’s soccer team training session three days before Canada was to play them in their first Olympic match.

Drone footage also showed a New Zealand team training on July 20.

FIFA stripped Canada of six points in the Olympic group stage, fined Canada Soccer about $313,000 and suspended Priestman, Lombardi and Mander for one year.

Priestman denied any knowledge of the incident, but on July 25, Canada Soccer CEO and general secretary Kevin Blue said in a statement that information had “been brought to our attention regarding the past use of drones against opponents, prior to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”

A document released by FIFA on July 31 about the sanctions imposed on Canada indicates that an email sent by Priestman in March indicated that espionage activities had been going on for years and that they had also taken place with the Canadian men’s team. In that email, she claimed that “all the top 10 teams are doing it.”

The French, German and Zambian teams have all denied making the mistake.

That same FIFA document shows that Canada Soccer believes the spying began under Herdman, who was the team’s head coach from 2011 to 2018. He was the men’s team’s head coach from 2018 to 2023 and left Canada Soccer a year ago to become the head coach of Toronto FC.

There is no suggestion that players were involved in the scandal, and Canada Soccer supports a full independent investigation.

Canada is set to co-host the men’s World Cup in 2026 with the United States and Mexico, and Ashton said Parliament needs to get involved to help restore Canada’s reputation before then.

“It’s critical that we do this,” she said of the House investigation.

“Canada is a country known for its fair play. We are increasingly a country that excels in soccer on the international stage and we need to be able to get back on track, get women’s soccer back on track, get soccer back on track, especially as we prepare to co-host the men’s World Cup in 2026.”

The heritage committee is not scheduled to meet again until the House of Commons returns from its summer recess on Sept. 16. Ashton said she wants to move the motion forward as soon as possible after that, stressing that the four witnesses she has requested are just a starting point.

Other witnesses could follow after that, she said.

Ashton said officials have let their players down and claims that everyone is doing the same thing are arrogant.

“This is not what Canada is known for internationally,” she said.

“But given that we’re in this situation, and the more stories I read, the more convinced I am that Parliament has a critical role to play on behalf of Canadians to demand accountability and ensure that this doesn’t happen again.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2024.