Suspended by FIFA, former head coach of the women’s national Soccer team Bev Priestman broke her silence on Saturday, declaring that she hopes something positive will come out of the drone spying scandal that has rocked Canada in the Olympic Games in Paris last summer.
“I hope that this truly difficult situation will be a turning point for our sport,” she wrote on Instagram. There is now a standard and precedent, no matter the genre, tournament or associated revenue that will hopefully make our sport cleaner. »
Priestman did not elaborate on his involvement in the espionage case in his six-paragraph statement.
Priestman, assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joey Lombardi were all suspended for one year for their roles in the scandal, linked to the use of a drone to film a New Zealand training session .
Canada Soccer announced following the findings of an independent investigation that the three would not be returning. Lombardi had already resigned after the Games.
“The findings of the independent investigator reveal that the drone incident in Paris was a symptom of a past pattern of unacceptable culture and insufficient supervision within national teams,” said Soccer Canada General Secretary Kevin Blue, by press release.
Canada Soccer continues to investigate the origins of the scandal and has initiated a disciplinary process against former men’s and women’s head coach John Herdman, currently at Toronto FC.
Priestman signed a new contract in January which was due to end with the 2027 World Cup. The 38-year-old was named to lead the team in 2020.
“It will take me time to process, heal, find the right words and return to the public space, but I felt like I had to say something, regardless of the circumstances,” Priestman wrote.
In addition to the suspensions, FIFA stripped six points from the women’s team in the Paris Games preliminary tournament and fined Canada Soccer 200,000 Swiss francs.
The representatives of the maple leaf nevertheless qualified for the elimination matches, but lost on penalties against Germany in the quarter-finals.
Canadian women’s under-20 team head coach Cindy Tye has been named head coach of the main team ahead of two friendlies against Iceland and South Korea next weekend .
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