DroneGate: Canada Soccer releases findings, Bev Priestman is officially out as WNT head coach, plus new reporting from Radio-Canada

Among the report’s findings: 

• Two of the Women’s National Team coaches directed, approved and condoned the actions taken by a third member of the Women’s National Team coaching staff to film practices of an opposing team at the Paris Olympics using a drone. 
• The drone footage was not viewed by Women’s National Team players. 
• Potential violations of the Canada Soccer Code of Conduct and Ethics by the former head coach of the Men’s National Team were identified. Pursuant to the Canada Soccer Disciplinary Code, a disciplinary process is being initiated to adjudicate these potential violations. 
• Some assistant coaches and staff members felt uncomfortable with the practice of spying on opponents but did not feel they could challenge the authority of the head coach. 
• Two of the Women’s National Team coaches directed acts of improper surveillance predating the 2024 Paris Olympics. No evidence was found that surveillance was undertaken at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, likely due to the highly restrictive nature of the lockdowns related to COVID-19. 
• The allegation of drone usage by a member of the Men’s National Team coaching staff to film the practice of an opponent at Copa América was not substantiated. The matter was adjudicated by CONMEBOL in June of 2024, and revisited by the independent investigator. 
• Kevin Blue, CEO, and Peter Augruso, President & Board Chair, did not condone the use of drones for surveillance of opponents and were not previously aware of the use of drones for surveillance of opponents. 

Regarding the “2021 Tokyo Olympics” bullet point, the inclusion of the “likely due to the highly restrictive nature of the lockdowns related to COVID-19” statement is curious, as findings along those lines are neither explicitly or implicitly mentioned in the summary report.

The full press release is available on Canada Soccer’s prezly.com’s subsite and also includes a download link for the investigation’s redacted report, an “Additional Notes” document regarding the report, and a summary of “Operational Changes at Canada Soccer” relating to ethics-related policies, including “[c]ontractually mandated reporting of unethical behaviour” and ethics training.

The summary report is only eight pages long and worth reading in its entirety. All names and some other details have been redacted, but a few of those names, such as Priestman, Mander, and Lombardi are known, as is former Canada WNT and Canada MNT head coach John Herdman.

Between the summary report and the “Additional Notes” document, there is a lack of significant details. Some basic information about the number of interviewees, the number of non-cooperating persons, and their general category (coaching staff, support staff, players, etc.) would be useful to help understand the scope of the investigation. Also, except for emails, there was no discussion about physical and/or digital evidence, namely video files of past recordings, and if such files were deleted, forensic examination of data drives.

The Tokyo Olympics Question

The summary report does not properly address whether members of the coaching and/or support staff of the Canada Women’s National Team were involved in improper spying at the COVID-delayed 2020 Summer Olympics.

Canada won gold in the women’s soccer tournament, so evidence of spying in their preparations for the 2020 Olympics and/or during the tournament could be used to justify the stripping of the gold medals from the then-members of the Canada WNT.

Regarding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the summary report only devotes one paragraph (¶28) to the matter:

While the Investigation was not a full review of whether surreptitious surveillance was used at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, there was no information presented in the Investigation from those participants interviewed who were part of the coaching staff of the Women’s National Team that surreptitious surveillance was used during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. [Redacted Section] denied that the surreptitious surveillance of opponents was used during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

However, a July 25th article by TSN’s Rick Westhead (tsn.ca) has a specific allegation of spying by a Canada WNT coach:

One of the sources said the spying included a Team Canada coach filming two of Japan’s closed-door training sessions during the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Canada tied Japan 1-1 in its first game during those Olympics.

“It was a little bit tricky during that time, given the fact that we were under a lot more restrictions, but there were ways to kind of sneak out of the hotel without people knowing,” the source told TSN.

FIFA could still investigate whether Canada conducted improper spying at the 2020 Summer Olympics as well as at other tournaments and ahead of other matches. Canada Soccer’s unredacted report is expected to be shared with FIFA, who will determine if “further action… is necessary and appropriate”. Possible sanctions, in addition to the stripping of the gold medals, could include bans from the next edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and/or the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Edit (15-Nov-2024): In an x.com post on November 8th, TSN’s Rick Westhead stated:

None of the sources I interviewed in recent months who said they had first-hand information about the use of drones told me they were contacted by [Sonia] Regenbogen.

Sonia Regenbogen was the attorney who led Canada Soccer’s independent investigation.

Radio-Canada article

Radio-Canada’s article, published on November 11th, does not have much new information, but there are some significant details worth mentioning.

At least one of the persons interviewed for the article was “a former member” of the Canada WNT. This looks to be the first confirmation by a journalist that at least one player on the Canada WNT knew about the drone spying prior to the Paris 2024 Olympics:

“‘Bev [Priestman] worked with John [Herdman] and he was a mentor to her,” said one former member of the Canadian women’s team. “Drones were an essential part of her preparation.”

…

The former player said drones were “systemic” and Priestman was “obsessed with having information about her opponent.” 

The Radio-Canada article stated that “drones were also used to spy on opponents of Canadian youth national teams”, but did not specify whether these were only men’s opponents, which was known TSN.ca), or women’s youth opponents as well. There is an allegation that a staff member of a Canada women’s youth national team spied on an opponent, but that did not involve the use of a drone: According to a July 26th TSN article by Rick Westhead (tsn.ca), a member of the Canada U-17 WNT staff had physically spied on an opponent’s practices during the 2016 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship in Grenada.

Notably, the article mentions that “[a]ccording to multiple sources, Canada Soccer executives knew about drone use”, but did not go into further details.

It should be noted that the summary report stated that current Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue, who was an outside hire named in February 2024 (Canada Soccer), and Peter Augruso, President of Canada Soccer since May 2024 (Inside World Football article) and was previously the President and Chair of Ontario Soccer, were not aware of any improper drone use (¶29 and ¶31, respectively).

Previous Coverage:

• July 31st: “DroneGate: Canada’s 6 Point Deduction Upheld by CAS, FIFA Appeal Decision Published”
• July 29th: “DroneGate Update: Canada Appeals Directly to the Court of Arbitration for Sport”
• July 27th: “DroneGate: Canada Hit With 6 Point Deduction, Bev Priestman Suspended by FIFA, More Spying Allegations”
• July 26th: “DroneGate: FIFA is on the Case, Bev Priestman Sent Home, and Evidence of ‘Previous Drone Use’”
• July 25th: “2024 Olympics: DroneGate! Canada Caught Spying on New Zealand Practices”