The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Wednesday rejected Canada’s appeal against a six-point penalty deduction from its score in the women’s football competition at the Paris Olympics following the drone spying scandal.
FIFA punished defending champion Canada with six points and one-year bans for coach Bev Priestman and officials Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander after New Zealand complained that the Canadian national team had spied on a training session with a drone before the two teams faced each other early in their tournament run.
The court said in a statement: “It has been decided to dismiss the application submitted by the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Football Association regarding the penalty of deducting six points from the score of the Canadian women’s soccer team during the soccer tournament in Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”
The statement added: “The applicants sought a decision from the court to annul or reduce the point deduction penalty imposed by the FIFA Appeals Committee in its decision of 27 July 2024, after demonstrating violations of the FIFA rules applicable to the Olympic Football Tournament concerning the ban on flying drones at training venues.
“We are disappointed by this decision and believe our players should not be unnecessarily punished for actions that are not theirs,” the Canadian Football Association said.
The national federation added that an independent external investigation had been launched. It would initially focus on the incident at the Olympics before examining other issues, amid media reports that the use of marches may have preceded the Paris Games.
In a joint statement, Canadian Football Association president Peter Ogrosso and CEO Kevin Blue said Sonia Regenbogen would oversee the review, describing her as “a leading Canadian expert in conducting independent investigations.”
Canada’s sports ministry announced Monday it would suspend funding for the salaries of Priestman and other suspended team officials, and described the walking scandal that rocked the Olympic soccer tournament in Paris as an embarrassment to all Canadians.
Canada won the first two games but sat third in Group A with no points after the penalty. Colombia top the group on goal difference, ahead of second-placed France, each with three points.
