Aayush Pathak
Canada Soccer is hoping that FIFA will not impose punishment on the country’s national team players in the wake of probes into pervasive drone espionage by men’s and women’s national team staff.
In the midst of a drone surveillance incident that resulted in the dismissal of women’s national team coach Bev Priestman during the Paris Olympics, Canada Soccer chief Kevin Blue stated on Friday that players in the country have not engaged in any unethical activity.
“Behaviour in the ethical grey area is completely unacceptable to Canadians”
Kevin Blue told the reporters “We admire deeply the will and determination of this group,The players themselves have not been involved in any unethical behavior and frankly we ask FIFA to take that into consideration.”
He also added “Behaviour in the ethical grey area is completely unacceptable to Canadians … to me personally, it’s completely unacceptable as a leader.”
Country’s senior teams have relied on drones and spying for years
Canadian media reports that the senior teams have been using drones and spying for years, leading to their first World Cup qualification in 36 years in 2022 and a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
In relation to Canada’s usage of drones during their journey to the Copa America semifinal last month, Blue said he had heard “anecdotal feedback” and that coach Jesse Marsch was aware of things.
He commented “I am aware of an instance of attempted drone usage at the Copa America, I have spoken with our current head coach about the incident after it occurred and I know he denounced it as a practice to his staff.”
“Of course there’s going to be a significant, thorough review as we proceed with the investigation.” He added.
On Thursday, The Canadian Olympic Committee said that the women’s team will be led by assistant coach Andy Spence for the remainder of the Paris Games.
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