Canada Soccer chief Kevin Blue has stated that Canadian players have not engaged in any unethical conduct following a drone spying controversy that resulted in the dismissal of women’s national team coach Bev Priestman during the Paris Olympics.
The organization is hopeful that FIFA will refrain from imposing penalties on the national team players as investigations continue into allegations of systematic drone surveillance by staff from both the men’s and women’s teams.
“We admire deeply the will and determination of this group,” CEO & General Secretary Blue told reporters. “The players themselves have not been involved in any unethical behaviour and frankly we ask FIFA to take that into consideration.”
“Behaviour in the ethical grey area is completely unacceptable to Canadians… to me personally, it’s completely unacceptable as a leader.”
Reports from Canadian media indicate that both senior national teams in Canada have been using drones and engaging in surveillance for several years.
The men’s team achieved World Cup qualification for the first time in 36 years in 2022, and the women’s team won gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
Kevin Blue mentioned receiving “anecdotal feedback” about Canada’s drone use during their Copa America semi-final run last month, and noted that coach Jesse Marsch was informed of this practice.
“I am aware of an instance of attempted drone usage at the Copa America,” he said. “I have spoken with our current head coach about the incident after it occurred and I know he denounced it as a practice to his staff.
“Of course there’s going to be a significant, thorough review as we proceed with the investigation.”
The Canadian Olympic Committee said on Thursday that the women’s team will be led by assistant coach Andy Spence for the remainder of the Paris Games.