Canada’s Appeal Dismissed by CAS in Drone Spying Case
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the joint appeal from the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Canada Soccer regarding FIFA’s decision to dock Canada’s women’s Olympic team six points for using a drone to spy on training sessions in Paris.
“The application filed by the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Soccer (the Applicants) in relation to the six-point deduction imposed on the Canadian women’s soccer team for the football tournament at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 has been dismissed,” read the decision from CAS.
“The Applicants sought a decision from the CAS Ad hoc Division either cancelling or reducing the points deduction imposed by the FIFA Appeal Committee in its decision of 27 July 2024 after it established that breaches of the FIFA regulations applicable to the Olympic football tournament concerning the prohibition on flying drones over training sites had occurred.”
In addition to the points deduction, FIFA imposed one-year bans on head coach Bev Priestman, assistant Jasmine Mander, and analyst Joseph Lombardi. These suspensions were not part of the appeal.
“The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Soccer thank the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s Ad Hoc Committee for its expedited process in hearing this case,” the COC said in a statement following the CAS decision. “While disappointed in the outcome of our appeal, we commend the players for their incredible resilience and grit over the course of this tournament, and look forward to cheering them on in today’s match against Colombia.”
Despite the setback, Canada Soccer chose not to withdraw from the Olympics as the players were not involved in the drone incident and hoped to mitigate any further penalties from FIFA. The team managed to advance to the Olympic quarterfinals after defeating Colombia on Wednesday and is set to face Germany on Saturday.
It was revealed that Lombardi was caught flying a drone over New Zealand’s practice ahead of the Olympics opener. Subsequently, his hotel room was searched, leading to the discovery of drone footage. Lombardi admitted to watching two New Zealand training sessions to gather tactical insights.
Following the points deduction, Canada currently sits on zero points despite winning their first two group games. Their upcoming match against Colombia could secure their spot in the next round if they finish as one of the top two third-place teams across the three groups.