Canada players celebrate their side's 1-0 win over Colombia on July 31, at the Nice Stadium in France.Julio Cortez/The Associated Press
The International Olympic Committee says it will not investigate past allegations of cheating by the Canada women’s soccer team, despite having awarded the team its medals.
“It would be a matter for FIFA,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said Thursday. “They have to continue their investigations and they would have to come up with sanctions.”
Canada loses appeal of FIFA penalty in Olympic drone spying scandal
A report by TSN suggested that Canada’s pattern of spying on opponents extended to the Tokyo Olympics, against the host country. Canada tied Japan 1-1 in an opening round game.
After that report, Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker cast doubt on the propriety of Canada’s gold medal in Japan.
“There appears to be information that could tarnish that Olympic performance in Tokyo,” he said at a news conference. “It makes me ill, it makes me sick to my stomach, to think that there could be something that calls into question … one of my favourite Olympic moments in history.”
IOC spokesperson Mr. Adams posited a hypothetical scenario in which a medal winner was retroactively disqualified by its federation.
“Then there could be a medal reallocation,” he said. “But that would first and foremost be for the federation [FIFA, in this instance] to make the decision.”
In its 26-page decision to impose several penalties on Canada, including docking them six points, there is a promise to continue pursuing the matter.
“As a final note, the Chairperson wished to remark that this decision related only [bolded in original] to the drone incidents that occurred at the OFT (Olympic football tournament),” the authors of the report wrote. “As the Chairperson understands it, [Canada Soccer] is conducting its own broader investigation into spying. In this respect, the Chairperson expects [Canada Soccer] to provide FIFA with the results of said investigation in order for it to be able to assess and decide whether further action by the FIFA bodies is necessary and appropriate.”
Asked about any next steps on Thursday, a FIFA spokesperson referred back to this specific clause.
When asked if any country had ever voluntarily returned a medal upon discovering it had been awarded unfairly, Mr. Adams – a man who has always had an answer to hand – seemed stumped.
“I can’t say. I don’t think so.”
In a subsequent e-mail, the IOC confirmed that no Olympian has ever given a medal back.
Vanessa Gilles scored for Canada in a 1-0 win over Colombia at Stade de Nice, sending Canada into the knockout stage at the Paris Olympics after a tumultuous week for the team.
The Canadian Press
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