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The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Wednesday dismissed the joint appeal from the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Canada Soccer in regards to FIFA docking Canada’s women’s Olympic team six points after being caught using a drone to spy on training sessions in Paris.
“The application filed by the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Soccer (the Applicants) in relation to the six-point deduction imposed on the Canadian women’s soccer team for the football tournament at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 has been dismissed,” read the decision from CAS.
“The Applicants sought a decision from the CAS Ad hoc Division either cancelling or reducing the points deduction imposed by the FIFA Appeal Committee in its decision of 27 July 2024 after it established that breaches of the FIFA regulations applicable to the Olympic football tournament concerning the prohibition on flying drones over training sites had occurred.”
Along with the six-point deduction, FIFA also handed out one-year bans for head coach Bev Priestman, assistant Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi. Those suspensions were not part of the appeal.
“The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Soccer thank the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s Ad Hoc Committee for its expedited process in hearing this case,” the COC said in a statement following the CAS decision. “While disappointed in the outcome of our appeal, we commend the players for their incredible resilience and grit over the course of this tournament, and look forward to cheering them on in today’s match against Colombia.”
Canada Soccer decided not to withdraw from the Olympics because the players weren’t involved in the drone use and hoped to avoid a penalty from FIFA with swift action. Despite the points deduction, Canada advanced to the Olympic quarterfinals with a win over Colombia on Wednesday. They’ll play Germany on Saturday.
Lombardi was caught flying a drone over New Zealand‘s practice ahead of their Olympics opener. His hotel room was later searched and drone footage was found, after which he admitted that he watched two New Zealand training sessions to learn the team’s tactics.
Canada has won its first two group games and sits on zero points following the points deduction. They play Colombia on Wednesday and a win could secure a place in the next round if they are one of the two best third-place teams in the three groups.
