[Source: Reuters]

Canada were deducted six points in the Olympic women’s soccer tournament and their head coach Bev Priestman banned for a year, global governing body FIFA said on Saturday, following a drone spying scandal that has tainted their gold medal defence.

The Canadian Soccer Association, which said it was exploring how it could appeal the six-point deduction, was also fined 200,000 Swiss francs ($226,346) in a case that rocked the Paris Games.

Priestman, who has coached the team since 2020 and led them to the Olympic title in Tokyo a year later, and Canadian officials Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander have been banned from any soccer-related activity for one year for “offensive behaviour and violation of the principles of fair play”, FIFA said.

New Zealand had complained that Canadian staff flew drones over their training sessions before their opening fixture at the Olympics, which Canada won 2-1.

Following FIFA’s decision, the reigning Olympic champions will drop to minus three points in Group A, with two matches left to play and a mountain to climb if they are to move past the group stage.

The decision remains subject to a potential appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“We feel terrible for the athletes on the Canadian Women’s Olympic soccer team who as far as we understand played no role in this matter,” said David Shoemaker, CEO and Secretary General of the Canadian Olympic Committee.

“In support of the athletes, together with Canada Soccer, we are exploring rights of appeal related to the six point deduction at this Olympic tournament.”

Canada Soccer CEO and General Secretary, Kevin Blue, described the FIFA decision as “excessively punitive” towards the players.

Canada are scheduled to play France, who top Group A on three points, on Sunday. They then take on Colombia, who like New Zealand have no points, on Wednesday.

The top two teams in each group and the two best third-ranked teams qualify for the Olympic quarter-finals.

The incident caused Priestman and the other officials involved to be suspended by Canada Soccer, the sport’s national governing body, and sent home from the Games.

The Canadian Olympic Committee removed Priestman on Thursday after her suspension by Canada Soccer. Assistant Andy Spence will coach Canada for the remainder of the Games.