Canada used a drone to monitor a Chile training session before their match at the men’s Copa America last month.
The incident occurred when Chile were training at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.
The group-stage fixture took place at the Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando on Saturday, June 29 and finished goalless. The following day, Chile filed an official complaint to Copa organisers CONMEBOL about the standard of officiating during the game and called for referee Wilmar Roldan to be suspended.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation — who spoke to The Athletic on the condition of anonymity — say Canada also used a drone to observe a United States training session ahead of a scrimmage in January 2022. The friendly match contained only 12 senior U.S. players — all from MLS teams — and Under-23s.
After the U.S. discovered Canada had been observing a session, then-coach Gregg Berhalter reached out to his then-counterpart John Herdman to say if he wanted the team’s line-up, he could have asked. Herdman has been approached for comment.
News of Canada’s previous drone use comes after it came to light that the women’s side had flown drones over two training sessions of Olympic Games opponents New Zealand. That led to Canada head coach Bev Priestman removing herself from overseeing the New Zealand game, which they won 2-1 with assistant Andy Spence in charge.
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Following that win on Thursday, Priestman was suspended for the remainder of the Olympics by Canada Soccer after it emerged there had been drone usage before the Games. She has since been given a 12-month suspension by football’s governing body FIFA as part of sanctions that also included a six-point deduction from Canada’s group-stage total.
In a statement on Sunday, a “heartbroken” Priestman said she would cooperate with Canada Soccer’s investigation.
“As the leader of the team on the field, I want to take accountability, and I plan to fully cooperate with the investigation,” she said.
“I fought with every ounce of my being to make this program better, much of which will never be known or understood,” she said. “I wish I could say more, but I will refrain at this time, given the appeals process and the ongoing investigation.”
Canada Soccer chief executive Kevin Blue said he had received “new internal information” which led him to consider the spying attempts by the women’s team were isolated incidents.
Blue said Marsch learnt of the drone usage after the Copa America (Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images)
“The more I learn about this specific matter, the more concerned I get about a potential long-term, deeply embedded systemic culture of this type of thing occurring, which is obviously completely unacceptable,” he said.
“I’ve been receiving a lot of anecdotal feedback about the history of the issue as it relates to both programs, as it relates to the current situation on the men’s team. I’m aware of an instance of attempted drone usage during Copa America. My current understanding is that the fact pattern of that instance is significantly different than what occurred here, especially as it relates to the potential impact on competitive integrity.”
Blue said men’s national team coach Jesse Marsch learned about the spying attempts after the Copa America, where Canada outperformed expectations and reached the semi-finals.
“He explained to me that he denounced it immediately and forcefully, and has communicated that to his staff, both the existing staff and staff that were from previous coaching staffs that are still with us,” Blue added. Marsch has been approached for comment.
Canada Soccer is now conducting an internal review to understand these situations and whether others may exist, Blue confirmed. He insisted multiple times that Canada’s players have not been involved in any “unethical behavior”, and said he thought a points deduction at the Olympics would be unfair.
Following Wednesday’s news of a second drone incident involving the Canada women’s side at the Olympics, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) said Joseph Lombardi, an “unaccredited analyst,” and Jasmine Mander, a coach who oversees Lombardi, had been removed from the team and sent home.
Canada kept their medal hopes alive on Sunday evening with a dramatic 2-1 victory over hosts France, with Vanessa Gilles scoring 12 minutes into stoppage time to seal a 2-1 victory.
Canada take on Colombia on Wednesday evening with their hopes of reaching the knockout stages still alive.
Additional reporting by Meg Linehan
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(Top photo: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
Source link : https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5660773/2024/07/28/canada-drone-use-chile-training/
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Publish date : 2024-07-28 17:20:24
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