Bev Priestman will not return as head coach of the Canadian women’s football team following an independent report into the use of drones to spy on an opponent at this year’s Paris Olympics, Canada Soccer said on Tuesday.
Priestman and two other team officials were previously banned by FIFA from any football-related activity for one year after New Zealand complained Canadian staff flew drones over their training sessions before their opening match in Paris.
But following an independent review commissioned by Canada Soccer, the national governing body said Priestman and the other two individuals currently suspended by FIFA would not return and a search for a new head coach would commence shortly.
RELATED | Paris Olympics drone inquiry shows unacceptable pattern: Canada Soccer
In July, Priestman apologised for the drone scandal and said that, as the leader of the team, she accepted accountability and planned to cooperate fully with the investigation.
Canada Soccer released only a redacted copy of the summary report but acknowledged the Paris drone incident was a symptom of a past pattern of an unacceptable culture and insufficient oversight within the national teams.
“The findings of the independent investigator reveal that the incident itself was a symptom of a difficult and unacceptable past culture within the national teams,” Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue and President Peter Augruso said.
“Quite simply, while players on the national teams performed admirably, cultural standards and management of the programs dating back several years fell short of expectations.”
Among the report’s findings, Priestman and an assistant coach “directed, approved and condoned” the use of a drone by a third member of the coaching staff to film an opposing team’s training session at the Paris Olympics.
The report also determined that the Paris drone footage was not viewed by the national team players whose bid to defend the gold medal Canada won at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics ended with a quarterfinal loss to Germany.
With the investigation now concluded, Canada Soccer is in the process of taking disciplinary steps which will be private.
According to an additional note that accompanied the summary findings, Canada Soccer “initiated a proceeding” with respect to former Canadian women’s and men’s head coach John Herdman for potential violations of its code of conduct and ethics.
Canada Soccer said Herdman, currently head coach of Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC, was invited to be interviewed for the investigation but, due to scheduling issues, they were not able to reach a mutually agreed time to meet.
Herdman, who was head coach of women’s team from 2011 to 2018 before taking over the men’s side from 2018 to 2023, said in July that he was confident such spying practices did not occur under his watch.
Herdman managed Canada’s women’s team at the 2012 London Olympics, 2016 Rio Olympics, as well as the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015. He also headed the men’s national team at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
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