Monday, July 13, 2026

Paris Olympics: Canada football coach sent home over spy drone

Assistant coach Andy Spence will take the reins for the remainder of the Olympic Games.

• July 26, 2024
Bev Priestman
Bev Priestman [Credit: SuperSport]

Canada has sent home their women’s Olympic football coach, Bev Priestman, following allegations of drones being used to spy on their opponents.

Canada are the women’s Olympic champions from Tokyo 2020, and two staff members were sent home on Wednesday. That was after drones were used to spy on a New Zealand practice in France.

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) said in a statement on Friday it had now removed Priestman from the team due to her suspension by Canada Soccer.

“Over the past 24 hours, additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” Canada Soccer chief executive Kevin Blue said.

Blue added, “In (the) light of these new revelations, Canada Soccer has made the decision to suspend Women’s National Soccer Team Head Coach Bev Priestman for the remainder of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“This will also be in place until the completion of our recently-announced independent external review.”

Assistant coach Andy Spence will take the reins for the remainder of the Olympic Games.

Canada defeated New Zealand 2-1 in their tournament opener on Thursday.

Priestman had earlier removed herself from coaching the match on Wednesday.

(dpa/NAN)

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

farmers

Agriculture

FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology

The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Police on stop-and-search

States

Police detain suspect over illegal possession of firearm in Enugu

The police said a concealed locally made double-barrelled pistol was found in the suspect’s possession during a search.

David Mark

Politics

Appeal Court upholds judgment barring INEC from recognising Mark-led ADC congresses

Justice Mohammed held that the case that precipitated the restraining order bordered on a non-justiciable internal affair of a political party.

Sealed filling station

Heading 5

NMDPRA seals Mobil, Mangerborn Energy in Ogun for under-dispensing fuel

Mr Adebowale stated that the action became necessary due to repeated breaches of regulatory requirements by the affected filling stations.

ADC logo

Politics

Court adjourns Sokoto ADC leadership suit until July 22

The judge consequently adjourned the matter to July 22 and ordered counsel for the first defendant to pay a fine of ₦500,000 to the court.

Abuja

FCT’s Tungan Madaki-Zuba road corridor will boost investment, says Tinubu

Mr Tinubu said that Tungan Madaki, Zuba, and the communities along the road corridor are home to some of Nigeria’s hardest-working citizens.

Federal Mortgage Bank

NationWide

FMBN reaffirms commitment to affordable housing access

Mr Osidi said the bank was prepared to provide guidance on affordable housing and on-site National Housing Fund (NHF) services.