Olympics-Canadian coach, analyst kicked out of Games after drone incident

By Julien Pretot

PARIS (Reuters) -Canada coach Bev Priestman removed herself from their opening match duties at the Paris Olympics while an assistant coach and a team analyst were kicked out of the Games on Wednesday after a spying scandal engulfed the women's soccer tournament.

Global soccer's governing body FIFA began disciplinary proceedings and Canada Soccer said it would launch an independent review after New Zealand's women's team said their training session on Monday had been disrupted by a drone flown by a staff member of their opening Group A opponents Canada.

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) said on Wednesday it had taken action to remove two members of staff from their Olympic squad, who were gold medallists at the Tokyo Games, while Priestman would not take charge against New Zealand on Thursday.

"Joseph Lombardi, an unaccredited analyst with Canada Soccer, is being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and will be sent home immediately," COC said in a statement.

"Jasmine Mander, an assistant coach to whom Mr. Lombardi reports to, is being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and will be sent home immediately."

Lombardi was handed an eight-month suspended jail term and his material was confiscated, a French court said.

FIFA said on Wednesday it had opened proceedings against Canada Soccer, Priestman, Lombardi and Mander due to a potential breach of the body's disciplinary code.

"The matter will be submitted for the consideration of the Disciplinary Committee in the next days," FIFA said in a statement.

Priestman apologised for what had happened and said ultimate responsibility lay with her.

"On behalf of our entire team, I first and foremost want to apologize to the players and staff at New Zealand Football and to the players on Team Canada," she said.

"This does not represent the values that our team stands for. I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program.

"Accordingly, to emphasize our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily withdraw from coaching the match on Thursday. In the spirit of accountability, I do this with the interests of both teams in mind and to ensure everyone feels that the sportsmanship of this game is upheld."

Canada Soccer said on Wednesday it would launch an independent external review that will not only address the circumstances of the matter but also look into the historical culture of competitive ethics within all of its programs.

"Canada Soccer has always sought to prioritize integrity and fair competition, and we understand that competing with honesty is a baseline expectation for all Canadians," Canada Soccer President Peter Augruso and CEO Kevin Blue said in a statement.

"We failed to meet those expectations in this case, and for that, we apologize."

The incident was reported by the NZOC to the police and to the International Olympic Committee's integrity unit.

"The NZOC and New Zealand Football are committed to upholding the integrity and fairness of the Olympic Games and are deeply shocked and disappointed by this incident, which occurred just three days before the sides are due to face each other in their opening game of Paris 2024," NZOC said in a statement.

"At this time the NZOC's main priority is to support the New Zealand women's football athletes and wider team as they start their campaign."

(Reporting by Martyn Herman and Julien Pretot; Additional reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis and Stephen Coates and Christian Radnedge)