There have been better starts to a competition such as the 2024 Paris Olympics. Bev Priestman, the coach of the Canadian women’s football team, will not be on the bench for the opening match of Group A between New Zealand and Canada scheduled for this Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium. The reason? The coach decided to temporarily withdraw from her selection after apologizing for an event that occurred a few days earlier. Indeed, on July 22, a Canadian drone was seen in the air filming the New Zealanders’ training.
In the wake of this incident, the Canadians were quick to apologize in a statement in which they specified that it was “an unaccredited member of the Canada Soccer support team.” The man in question, Joseph Lombardi according to L’Équipe, was arrested for espionage by French authorities in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in recent hours and will be sent back to Canada immediately. The sports daily adds that the assistant coach, whose identity has not been released, has also been sent back to the land of maple.
Priestman expected to return
“Team members immediately reported the incident to police, which led to the arrest of the drone operator, who was identified as a member of the Canadian women’s football team support staff,” the NZOC, the New Zealand Football Association, said in a statement, calling on Canada to conduct a “full review of the situation.” “NZOC and New Zealand Football are committed to the integrity and fairness of the Olympic Games and are deeply shocked and disappointed by this incident, which occurred just three days before the two teams were due to play each other,” it also read.
For her part, Canada coach Bev Priestman has chosen to temporarily step down from the squad and will not be present for this famous first match against New Zealand. “In order to emphasize our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily step down from my role for Thursday’s match,” she explained. “In the spirit of accountability, I am making this decision in the interest of both teams and to ensure that everyone knows that sportsmanship is maintained for this match.” Bev Priestman is expected to return for her team’s next matches, starting with the one against France on July 28.
