Canada Soccer studying drone-spying review, says it shows past 'unacceptable culture'
CBC
More than three months after announcing an independent review into the Paris Olympics drone-spying scandal, Canada Soccer now has the document in hand.
And while it has yet to release the findings, Canada Soccer CEO and general secretary Kevin Blue lifted the lid slightly Friday on what is promising to be a larger can of worms.
"Our initial review of the conclusions of the independent investigator reveals that the drone incident in Paris was a symptom of a past pattern of an unacceptable culture and insufficient oversight within the national teams," Blue said in a short statement.
"While we are being thoughtful about how best to address the findings, we also want to move decisively. To that end, we will release key conclusions and next steps within a week."
His statement follows earlier indications by Canada Soccer that suggested the Olympic scandal was not an isolated misstep.
Canada Soccer announced July 31 that it had retained Sonia Regenbogen from the law firm of Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark to handle the review of the Olympic incident "and subsequently, any related matters of a historic nature."
WATCH l Emails show how an analyst pushed back against spying:
Canada women's coach Bev Priestman, assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi are serving one-year FIFA suspensions in the wake of New Zealand's Olympic Committee filing a complaint with the International Olympic Committee's integrity unit, alleging drones were flown over two pre-tournament practice sessions.
Priestman is still being paid by Canada Soccer pending the review — but her future is uncertain.
And more shoes could drop given the suggestion of past incidents of cheating.
A ruling by the FIFA Appeals Committee this summer cited an internal Canada Soccer email exchange that shows performance analyst Morgan Drew "resisting a request from Ms. Priestman to use drones for 'scouting purposes."'
In another email, provided to FIFA by Canada Soccer, Priestman suggested the practice was commonplace in both the men's and women's teams.
The FIFA Appeals Committee ruling also put former Canada coach John Herdman at Ground Zero within Canada Soccer for spying on rival teams.
"Canada is investigating the history of this matter, but we suspect that the practice of using a drone stems back to John Herdman when he was the head coach of the women's national team. In other words, this was a practice started by one person — John Herdman — and continued by Bev Priestman," Canada Soccer said, according to the FIFA document.
