Canada coach Bev Priestman takes photos on the pitch at Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium in Saint-Etienne, on July 23.Silvia Izquierdo/The Associated Press
Canada Soccer told the sport’s global governing body that it believes the country’s drone-spying scheme began under former women’s head coach John Herdman and then continued under Bev Priestman, unredacted documents posted to FIFA’s website show.
The allegation puts Mr. Herdman, who led the women’s team through back-to-back bronze medals at the London and Rio Olympics before he took over the men’s program in 2018, at the centre of a Canadian cheating scandal that has cast a shadow over the Paris Olympics.
“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 to the FIFA Appeal Committee on Saturday as part of the federation’s investigation into Canadian drone use.
The 26-page report from FIFA – which provides the most detailed picture yet of a culture of cheating within the Canadian soccer program – lays out its case against the Canadian women’s team and coaching staff. And it provides a rationale for levelling a six-point penalty against the athletes, essentially starting them off two games in the hole, as well as the reasons for suspending three staff members.
FIFA initially posted an unredacted version of the document – one that included Mr. Herdman’s name – but later deleted that file and uploaded a version that blacked out his and other names.
Opinion: Canada Soccer has a different definition of the truth than the rest of us
Mr. Herdman declined to comment on the allegations in a statement to The Globe and Mail from Toronto FC, where he is now the head coach.
On Wednesday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed an appeal from Canada over the six-point penalty. That night, the Canadian women were victorious in a must-win game against Colombia. It was the team’s third straight win of the Olympics, enough to overcome the points deficit in order to move to the next round.
The FIFA documents include an explosive e-mail exchange that occurred four months before the Games in which Ms. Priestman wrote to a colleague for advice about how to handle a Canada Soccer staff member’s refusal to spy on an opponent.
“It’s something the analyst has always done and I know there is a whole operation on the men’s side with regards to it,” Ms. Priestman wrote in an e-mail dated March 20, 2024.
She continued to say that “scouting” can be “the difference between winning and losing and all top 10 teams do it.”
Ms. Priestman’s e-mail was prompted by an e-mail exchange with someone identified as “a Performance Analyst of the Canadian Team.” In her e-mail to Ms. Priestman, the analyst references an apparent conversation she had had with the then-head coach the previous day.
“As discussed yesterday, in terms of the ‘spying’ conversation, I came off the meeting with clarity that you understood my reasons for me being unwilling to do this moving forward. Morally. My own reputation within the analysis field. Potentially being unable to fulfill my role on a matchday,” she wrote.
“Moving forward, I will have a discussion with Joey and reach out to the wider tech team with regards to how we could potentially look for other solutions. But just wanted to confirm that you will not be asking me to fulfill the role of ‘spying’ in the upcoming camp & future camps. I am sure you will respect my reasoning and thank you for your understanding.”
Ms. Priestman did not respond to a request for comment. An unidentified man at her home in South Surrey, B.C., told a Globe reporter that she is not interested in speaking: “It’s a really rough day – as you can probably imagine.”
Canada coach Bev Priestman reacts during the team's Women's World Cup Group B soccer match against Nigeria in Melbourne, Australia, July 21, 2023.Hamish Blair/The Associated Press
On July 24, just days before the start of the Olympics, news broke that an analyst working for the Canadian women’s soccer team had used a drone to spy on a closed-door practice of the New Zealand national team.
That analyst, Joseph Lombardi, was later arrested by French police. He agreed to a suspended sentence. Mr. Lombardi and assistant coach Jasmine Mander were sent home. (Officers found no evidence she was aware of the drone use, but text messages revealed she was aware that he planned to attend the New Zealand practice.) Ms. Priestman volunteered to sit out Canada’s first game – against New Zealand – but the scandal quickly spiralled.
Mr. Lombardi and Ms. Mander have not responded to interview requests from The Globe.
Both FIFA and Canada Soccer announced that they would be investigating the incident, and Mr. Lombardi, Ms. Mander and Ms. Priestman were each suspended.
Two days into the spying scandal, Canada Soccer chief executive officer and general secretary Kevin Blue said in a statement that “additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”
It was this admission that prompted FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee to order Canada Soccer to elaborate on Mr. Blue’s comments and which compelled the sports body to turn over the e-mail exchange between Ms. Priestman and the analyst.
The FIFA documents currently posted to its website redact many of the names of those involved in the scandal – including Mr. Herdman. The Globe obtained the original through the Wayback Machine Internet Archive.
He is named in the first version.
Mr. Herdman took over the Canadian women’s team in 2011, making the podium at both the London and Rio Olympic Games. In 2018, he moved to the men’s program, where he led the team to its first World Cup in nearly four decades in 2022. Last August, Mr. Herdman became the head coach of Toronto FC.
On Wednesday, an unnamed spokesperson with the soccer club told The Globe: “To maintain the integrity of Canada Soccer’s independent review, Toronto FC and head coach John Herdman will refrain from any further comment until the review has been completed.”
In the final section of the FIFA report, which was signed by appeal chair Neil Eggleston, the sports body notes that – while every soccer association has a responsibility to follow the rules – Canada Soccer had a special responsibility to uphold the principles of fair play because the Canadian women are the reigning Olympic champions.
“The sanctions were adequate on the basis of the unprecedented and egregious conduct engaged by the Respondents,” it read.
The report notes that Canada – along with other teams competing at the Olympics – were expressly warned multiple times that drone use at the Games was prohibited.
Canada Soccer spokesperson Paulo Senra told The Globe that it would be inappropriate to comment given its independent investigation. He said Sonia Regenbogen of Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark, LLP has been hired to run the external review.
Meanwhile, NDP critic for Canadian Heritage Niki Ashton said the latest revelations reinforce the need for accountability.
“I will be asking the committee to call on Soccer Canada and team officials to testify as to how this happened and how to ensure this never happens again,” she said in a statement.
Earlier in the week, Canada’s Minister of Sport, Carla Qualtrough, said the federal government would be withholding some funding to Canada Soccer as a result of the scandal.
FIFA left the door open to further sanctions against Canada Soccer, based on the outcome of its external review.
With reports from Stephanie Chambers, Nancy Macdonald, Laura Stone and Ian Bailey
Follow the latest news and highlights from the Paris Olympic Games