The lawyer for former Soccer Canada coach Bev Priestman, pictured here in 2023, says her client was the victim of 'blame shifting' in the wake of the Paris Olympics drone-spying scandal.Scott Barbour/The Canadian Press
The federal NDP is planning to submit a new motion that would compel Canada Soccer’s leadership to testify before a parliamentary committee in the wake of fresh allegations into the workplace culture and spying problems inside the sport’s national governing body.
Recent reporting by The Globe and Mail found that the women’s soccer program had major issues well before the drone-spying scandal at the Paris Olympics. A 2023 workplace investigative report, submitted to the sport’s body a year before the Games, noted that staff had concerns about spying and an alleged toxic workplace.
Bev Priestman, former senior women’s head coach, was suspended by FIFA and Canada Soccer after the organization’s performance analyst Joey Lombardi was caught by French police illegally flying a drone over an opponent’s closed practice on July 22.
Jasmine Mander, pictured.Supplied
An investigation released earlier this month commissioned by Canada Soccer, found that Ms. Priestman and assistant coach Jasmine Mander – whose names were redacted from the public version of the report – directed Mr. Lombardi to twice spy on New Zealand ahead of their match at the Olympics.
Canada Soccer announced earlier this month that Ms. Priestman and Ms. Mander will no longer be working for the organization. Mr. Lombardi resigned from Canada Soccer after the Olympics.
New Democratic MP Niki Ashton, a member of the standing committee on Canadian heritage, told The Globe that she plans to submit a motion Monday that could force current and former executives and coaches to be questioned by the committee about the culture issues that led to the spying scandal. A similar motion was voted down by the Liberals and Bloc last month, who said they were waiting on the outcome of the soccer body’s investigation, which was led by lawyer Sonia Regenbogen.
“We believe that a more comprehensive examination of what’s happening at Canada Soccer is critical,” Ms. Ashton told The Globe on Sunday. “It’s timely, and what’s more important, we’re looking to this with a goal of coming up with recommendations to government on what needs to be done to help fix the mess at Canada Soccer.”
Ms. Ashton said the Paris drone scandal “affected all of us,” and “we cannot turn a blind eye to it” as Canada prepares to co-host the men’s World Cup in 2026. Canada Soccer receives millions in federal funding every year, and Ottawa has an important role to play as the federation tries to restore public confidence in its ability to govern itself, she added.
On Sunday, Muneeza Sheikh, a Toronto-based employment and human-rights lawyer for Ms. Priestman, posted a statement to LinkedIn saying that The Globe reporting contained allegations that were untrue but did not specify to what she was referring.
Ms. Sheikh says the focus on her client is an attempt to draw attention away from the real problems inside soccer at the national level and that allegations against Ms. Priestman have been aimed at discrediting “a gay woman in professional sports.”
“What happened at the Paris Olympics should have been a catalyst for change for Soccer,” Ms. Sheikh wrote. “Instead, the world has observed a master class of blame-shifting.”
She said Ms. Priestman has “proved her tenacity” as a coach across multiple teams over the past decade and as a leader in women’s sport.
Canada Soccer was able to get away with being dysfunctional because it was a winner
The Globe’s reporting found that Ms. Priestman and Ms. Mander oversaw a program that was already in turmoil before the Olympic scandal. Some current and former staff alleged that the national women’s teams had become a toxic place to work, citing, among other allegations, staff drinking sessions the night before games and how employees were treated when they objected to spying.
The Globe also revealed some of the complaints probed during two workplace investigations in 2023; Canada Soccer said those investigations did not find violations of the organization’s Code of Conduct and Ethics. Ms. Sheikh said Ms. Priestman had been targeted by false allegations.
“What has transpired continues to shed light on double standards in sport, hypocrisy, and false narratives. The recent article levies several fabricated claims against Bev,” Ms. Sheikh said. “These are demonstratively being raised now to detract from the real story. Bev has never harassed anyone.”
Ms. Priestman, in her first public statement since the spying scandal at the Olympics, said she’s hopeful that the game can begin to clean itself up and thanked people for supporting her through some “dark days.”
Jason Devos assists in the draw during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Final Draw at the Canadian Museum of History on Dec. 6, 2014 in Gatineau, Que.Francois Laplante/FreestylePhoto/Getty Images
The former coach, who took over the women’s program in 2020 and coached the gold-medal-winning team at the Tokyo Olympics, said she hopes this can be a turning point for soccer.
“I hope out of a really tough situation this is a turning point for our game,” she wrote. “There has been a standard and precedent set now, irrespective of gender, tournament or associated revenues, that will hopefully clean up our game.”
Dean Crawford, a lawyer for Ms. Mander, has previously said accounts provided to The Globe about his client directing spying are inaccurate but declined to elaborate. “At a high level, I can tell you that the allegations made by others to you about Ms. Mander’s involvement in various attempts to obtain surveillance of opponents are not accurate,” Mr. Crawford said.
One of those 2023 workplace investigations, conducted by Ottawa lawyer Erin Durant, found that staff had concerns about spying on their opponents and that those concerns were noted in a report submitted to Canada Soccer in July of that year.
In response to questions from The Globe, Canada Soccer declined to identify who among the organization’s leadership had received a copy. Instead, spokesperson Paulo Senra pointed to former executives at the organization who “fell short” of the disclosure obligations that the organization is now implementing. A review of the minutes from that time show the report was not submitted to the board, he said.
Canada Soccer’s interim chief executive officer at that time was Jason deVos, now an assistant coach with Toronto FC, the city’s Major League Soccer team. The Globe previously reported that Mr. deVos had fielded a complaint in August, 2023, from one staffer about employees being asked to spy against their objections.
Mr. deVos, a former player with Canada’s men’s national team, said he could not discuss the workplace investigations, but said he introduced policy changes as a result.
The spying scandal cost the Canadians six points in Paris – the equivalent of two wins at the Olympics – and a $315,000 fine, and prompted the federal government to withhold some of Canada Soccer’s funding. The women’s team went home without a medal for the first time since 2008 after losing to Germany in the quarter-finals.
In her statement on Instagram, Ms. Priestman wrote: “I know that amazing group was ready to reach the top again this summer but in many ways what they did was even more special under such difficult circumstances.”
“It has and will continue to take some time to process, heal, find the words and step back in to a public setting but I felt I should say something irrespective of ongoing circumstances,” Ms. Priestman continued.
“To the people around the world that see a person behind the public figure who have checked in, some who really didn’t have to but did, thank you. You continue to help me through some dark days.”