After TSN published an initial version of this story, Canada Soccer chief executive Kevin Blue wrote in a statement that head coach Bev Priestman had been removed from her position for the balance of the Olympic tournament. Blue wrote that the federation had obtained new information regarding previous drone use against opponents that predates the 2024 Olympics. The Canadian Olympic Committee said that Priestman had been removed from the Olympic team.
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Staff and contractors connected to the men’s national team have also filmed the closed training sessions of competitors, one of the sources told TSN, adding that Canada used a drone to record a U.S. training session before a Nov. 15, 2019, game in Florida. The U.S. won that game 4-1.
Two years later, Honduras stopped a training session in Toronto during World Cup qualifiers after someone spotted a drone overhead.
“I’d imagine there’s probably a lot of people in Canada that fly drones, I’m sure,” then-Canada coach John Herdman said at the time. “And when a big team like Honduras turn up I’m sure people are probably interested in what they’re doing when they come into our country. So I know for sure we won’t be heading into people’s countries too early because with drones these days, people can obviously capture footage. You’ve got to be really careful. So yeah, you got to be careful in CONCACAF. It’s a tricky place.”
Some staff and contractors were told the filming was part of their jobs and that they could lose their positions with the federation if they did not go along with the demands, one of the sources said in a series of interviews with TSN on Wednesday and Thursday.
“In a couple of scenarios, people have been pushed and have been told, ‘You have to give 110 percent and this is part of the job so if you don’t feel comfortable with doing this, you do not have a place on the team’,” the source said. “It’s not something that’s talked about and it’s not something there are a lot of text messages about because of how sensitive this is. Some of the people who have had to do the filming or review the filming have said to a few staff members how uncomfortable it was for them.”
Both sources asked for anonymity because they said they were afraid the federation would retaliate against them. It’s unclear whether any players were aware of the strategy to record practices.
One of the sources said the spying included a Team Canada coach filming two of Japan’s closed-door training sessions during the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Canada tied Japan 1-1 in its first game during those Olympics.
“It was a little bit tricky during that time, given the fact that we were under a lot more restrictions, but there were ways to kind of sneak out of the hotel without people knowing,” the source told TSN. “In Tokyo, a lot of the facilities were a little bit more open so in some cases, you could see from behind bushes or behind fences or behind trees. It wasn't that complicated, because they didn't have the big mesh walls. So as long as you were close enough to the facility, you're able to see if you're in a hidden location.”
The source said they weren’t aware if spying occurred in other games during those Olympics.
Two years after the Tokyo Olympics, a Canada Soccer contractor who was scheduled to travel to Australia for the 2023 World Cup was told their responsibilities would include trying to record training sessions of opposing teams. When the contractor said they wouldn’t agree to do that, their trip was canceled and a Canada Soccer staff member flew there in their place to do the recording, the source said.
