(Paris) The Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected Canada’s challenge to a six-point deduction imposed by FIFA in connection with the spying scandal that rocked the Canadian women’s soccer team.
FIFA has stripped Canada of six ranking points in the women’s Olympic soccer tournament after a team analyst was caught operating a drone to spy on New Zealand’s training sessions ahead of the Paris Olympics.
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Canada Soccer had asked CAS to cancel or reduce the sanction, considering that it was a disproportionate and unfair sanction that punishes the players, even though they are not involved in this story.
“While we are disappointed with the outcome of our appeal, we commend the players for the incredible resilience and courage they have shown throughout this tournament and look forward to cheering them on in today’s match against Colombia,” read the statement released Wednesday morning by the COC.
Canada Soccer was also fined more than $300,000 and three of its coaches – including women’s coach Bev Priestman – were suspended for one year.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Women’s team coach Bev Priestman
The court’s decision means that the team, who are still undefeated in the tournament, absolutely must win later today against Colombia in order to reach the qualifiers for the women’s Olympic soccer tournament.
The CAS special tribunal that reviewed the case has indicated that it will publish the reasons for its verdict at a later date.