Olympic Games 2024 in Paris: US soccer team has apparently been aware of drone spying incidents in Canada for years

The Canadian soccer spying scandal apparently came as no surprise to the US Soccer Association.

Last week, Canada’s Olympic women’s soccer team was caught using a drone to spy on training sessions in Paris ahead of the Games, resulting in a six-point deduction in group play and a one-year suspension for head coach Bev Priestman.

According to ESPN’s Sam Borden, the U.S. Soccer Federation has been aware of Canada’s alleged spying tactics for some time – even when Canada tried to spy on American teams. The federation simply never reported it to a governing body, in part because of larger projects the two countries are working on, including the joint bid with Mexico for the 2026 World Cup.

There have been several cases in recent years where U.S. Soccer officials have claimed to have caught someone spying on practices. According to the report, in 2021, a man was repeatedly caught by security guards watching a closed practice of a men’s team at the IMG Academy in Florida. When the man was finally confronted, he admitted that he was working for Canada Soccer.

A Canadian staff member was caught flying a drone over a New Zealand practice in Paris earlier this month before the team’s opening group stage match at the Olympics. That staff member was later charged by French police and sent home from the Games along with Priestman and another assistant. Priestman had imposed a one-match suspension on herself before being sent home, and she was not present for the team’s 2-1 win over New Zealand. Assistant coach Andy Spence will lead Canada for the remainder of the Olympics.

A report from TSN this week also claimed that the spying has been going on for years. The women’s team is said to have used drones to spy on their opponents at the 2021 Tokyo Games, where they won the gold medal, and in 2022 while trying to qualify for the Women’s World Cup. The men’s team is said to have flown a drone over Honduras’ training grounds last year and also attempted to do so during training sessions ahead of the Copa América earlier this summer.

The Canadian women’s team will face France on Sunday afternoon and play group matches against Colombia next week.