Canada Soccer | Spying methods ‘potentially systemic’

(Paris) The situation continues to worsen for Canada Soccer. On Friday afternoon, almost 12 hours after suspending head coach Bev Priestman for her involvement in the drone spying scandal that has rocked the Canadian delegation since the beginning of the week, the national federation confirmed that the use of such methods “goes back several years.”

It was Canada Soccer President and CEO Kevin Blue who spoke via Zoom from Saint-Étienne, France, during an unscheduled media session.

Since Tuesday, the world’s eyes have been on his organisation, which was found guilty of using a drone to spy on two training sessions of the New Zealand women’s team. Two members of the analysis team, as well as the head coach, have since been sent home.

However, Blue began his press conference with an even more important piece of information: “I have received new information […] which give me reason to believe that this kind of method was potentially systemic within the organization.”

According to him, “the situation would be much more complex” than he originally believed.

He confirmed that he does not know since when Canada Soccer has been using this type of prohibited procedure, but he is determined to get to the bottom of this story through the independent investigation that will be set up.

For now, however, he says he is “concerned” to learn how these “unacceptable” practices appear to have been embedded in the Canadian program’s way of doing things for a long time. “I’m getting more and more anecdotes about these practices in the past,” Blue continued.

In the men’s team

Moments later, Blue sent another shockwave: “I have received information about both programs. I know, for example, that the men’s team tried to use the same ploy, with a drone, during the last Copa America.”

Two weeks ago, the Canadian men’s soccer team reached the semi-finals of this major tournament.

According to Blue, Jesse Marsch, head coach of the men’s team since May, was made aware of the spying practices and immediately “reported this type of behavior to his colleagues.” Marsh came in to replace John Herdman, who left the federation to join Toronto FC in MLS.

In his opinion, and in light of the information he has received, “there was no risk that the maneuvers would have an impact on the result of the match,” Blue believes, because “it was done differently from what we saw here.”

This means that the two heads of the men’s and women’s programs knew that the institution for which they worked was using illegal methods in order to gain an advantage over their rivals.

Blue, however, declined to place all the blame on Priestman and Marsch, saying “that goes back several years, well before my arrival and the arrival of the two head coaches.”

Spare the players

At this point, where information is trickling in, Kevin Blue is asking that the Canadian team’s players be spared as a priority. “The players have nothing to reproach themselves for ethically,” he said.

Canada Soccer has also asked FIFA to take this request into consideration for “possible sanctions.”

Blue believes that “taking points away from players during the tournament would be unfair, especially given the speed and efficiency with which we handled this situation.”

The Canadians won their opening match at the Paris Games by a score of 2-1 on Thursday against New Zealand. They will face France on Sunday.

The CEO maintains that “the current players on the team, here at these Games, have nothing to do with the actions of the federation. I cannot confirm whether or not players from previous years have seen videos. But the current players are not involved.”

Andy Spence didn’t know

When the Canadian Olympic Committee informed the media of Priestman’s suspension on Thursday night, it announced that assistant coach Andy Spence would take over until the end of the independent investigation.

“I don’t think Andy knew. That’s all I’ll say,” Kevin Blue said curtly when asked about Spence’s involvement in the scandal.

As for what comes next, only the outcome of the investigation will be able to answer Blue’s questions. Right now, he is simply observing the damage. Having arrived in his position in February, after three years as Golf Canada’s sports director, Blue has repeatedly said that the federation “will adjust, depending on the outcome of the investigation.”

In the meantime, this controversy is attracting curiosity from around the world, as demonstrated by the traffic on the Zoom platform.

The legitimacy of the Canadian women’s Olympic victory at the 2021 Games was not really discussed during the 30 minutes of the call, but on social media, it is being discussed a lot.

Stephanie Labbé, goalkeeper during the conquest, implored her subscribers to “not confuse an excellent performance on my part with cheating”.

Comments and reactions are likely to pile up over the next few days as more and more twists and turns in this story unfold. And that’s even though the Olympics haven’t even started yet.