PARIS – Canada’s women’s soccer team has been hit with a six-point penalty by FIFA, severely impacting its chances of defending its Olympic gold medal.
Soccer’s governing body announced Saturday the disciplinary action stemming from a spying scandal that blew up after reports that a drone was used to record two closed practices conducted by New Zealand’s team.
Head coach Bev Priestman was also suspended from all soccer-related activity for a year, along with assistant Jasmine Mander and staffer Joseph Lombardi. All three had already been removed from the team and Priestman was already suspended by Canada Soccer.
Canada Soccer was also fined 200,000 Swiss francs (C$313,000).
FIFA judges found Priestman and her two assistants “were each found responsible for offensive behaviour and violation of the principles of fair play.”
Priestman, who coached Canada to Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games, and Canada Soccer can challenge their sanctions at the Court of Arbitration’s special Olympic court in Paris.
Canada opened its Olympic tournament with a 2-1 win over New Zealand, but those three points are nullified by the sanctions. Canada will have to take a maximum of nine points to have any hope of advancing out of the preliminary round.
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The Canadians next face host France on Sunday in Saint-Etienne.
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Elsewhere on Saturday, Summer McIntosh was one of several Canadian swimmers to advance out of their heats, while a first-time fencing Olympian beat a three-time defending champion as the Games got underway in earnest.
McIntosh, a 17-year-old from Toronto, qualified for the final of the women’s 400-metre freestyle swimming event by finishing second in her heat and fourth overall. The final will come later on Saturday at Paris La Defense Arena.
Maggie Mac Neil from London, Ont., qualified for the women’s 100 butterfly semifinals later on Saturday. She took second place in her heat and seventh overall.
The 24-year-old, the defending Olympic champion in the event, will try to move on to Sunday’s final.
Canadian relay swimmers also qualified for finals through their Saturday morning heats.
Toronto’s Penny Oleksiak, Mary-Sophie Harvey of Trois-Rivières, Que., Brooklyn Douthwright of Riverview, N.B., and Taylor Ruck of Kelowna, B.C., qualified sixth in the women’s 4×100-metre freestyle relay.
Qualifying fifth for the men’s final was the Canadian team of Finlay Knox of Okotoks, Alta., Yuri Kisil of Calgary, and Javier Acevedo and Josh Liendo, both from Toronto.
Both relay finals will come later on Saturday.
Canadian fencer Fares Arfa defeated the three-time defending Olympic champion Aron Szilagyi in a surprise upset in men’s individual sabre on Saturday, advancing to the round of 16, where he defeated France’s Bolade Apithy.
Szilagyi, the only male fencer to win three Olympic gold medals, was chasing a fourth notch on his belt.
“It’s really a shock. It’s like my opponent read me. I was an open book to him,” he said after the match.
“It happened so fast, and I’ve never thought that my individual competition here in Paris would be so short.”
Arfa, who is making his Olympic debut, was defeated in the quarterfinals by South Korea’s Oh Sang-Uk.
Olivia Baril, of Rouyn-Noranda, Que., finished 20th in the women’s time trial — the first cycling event of the Games. The event was won by Grace Brown of Australia, who managed to stay astride her bike even as many of her competitors were thrown by the slippery wet pavement after hours of rain.
Ottawa’s Derek Gee, who recently placed ninth overall in the Tour de France, finished 20th in the men’s time trial. Remco Evenepoel captured the gold medal, finishing ahead of Italian rival Filippo Ganna and Belgian countryman Wout van Aert.
Later in the day, Canada is set to take on Greece in men’s basketball, led by NBA first-team all-star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He led the senior men’s national team to a bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Also later Saturday, the women’s beach volleyball tournament will see Canadian pair Heather Bansley and Sophie Sokovec face off with Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth of the United States. On Monday, the Canadians will face China’s Xue Chen and Xia Xinyi.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2024.
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