Sport Canada is withholding funding relating to the country’s women’s football coach, Bev Priestman, and two other suspended team officials, calling the drone scandal that has engulfed the team a national embarrassment. Priestman herself has meanwhile issued a statement of apology.
Canada were docked six points – a huge blow to their hopes of retaining the Olympic title they won at the Tokyo Games – after it emerged they had used drones to spy on opponents. Fifa also banned the Englishwoman Priestman and the officials Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander from any football-related activity for one year.
“Using a drone to surveil another team during a closed practice is cheating,” Canada’s sport minister, Carla Qualtrough, said in a statement. “It is completely unfair to Canadian players and to opposing teams. It undermines the integrity of the game itself.
“Given that the…
